When Bad Boy meets Blondie
by Living.Like.Larry
Summary: All the secrets kept from you will always make you more curious to know what is going on. Try not to keep people out of the loop or else they could potentially land themselves in trouble. Rated M for language and maybe a lemon/lime. AxelRoxas
1. Chapter I

**A/N:**_Hey everyo_ne! _This is a story I wrote as a spur of the moment kind of thing that I didn't even plan on publishing here. Here is a new story for you and I hope you enjoy it.**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter I: Why would you do this to me?**

Parents getting divorces is never easy. Some people say that choices like that were made for the better but in reality all it does is tear you apart from the inside. Some people have to live with how hard it truly is to have their parents split. Let's introduce the family of the story, the Strife's, they have had many ups and downs in their life and they never expected to have it thrown around as much as it was. The twists and turns they take all lead them to this one dramatic point in their lives.

_**10 years in the past**_

_It was just an hour after dinner time and three seven-year old children were calming playing sword-fighting in their room. Suddenly from downstairs a large 'boom' ricochets off of the walls of the house. Being the curious children they are, the three filed out of the room and sat at the small balcony part looking over into the kitchen, seeing their mother sitting calmly at the table and their father a disheveled mess._

"_You missed dinner again. That's the sixth night in a row." Their mother stated calmly. Their father, Cloud, sighed aloud and walked around the table to the fridge, proceeding in pulling out a foil-covered plate._

"_I know that. I tried to make it but the boss kept me late. I'll try and be on time tomorrow, alright?" He said, unwrapping his meal and gently placing it into the microwave._

"_No! I can't stand hearing that excuse anymore! You always say the same thing but I just do not believe it anymore!" Tifa shouted, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Cloud slowly turned around and leaned against the counter and stared at his wife. _

"_Well then what do you want me to say? There is nothing more to it than me having to take overtime just to make ends meet. I'm always late because I'm trying to make us all a happy family but you're twisting everything around and making it into something it's not." Cloud said, remaining completely calm. Tifa slowly stood from the table and stood a few feet in front of Cloud, eyeing him for a moment before pulling him into a tight embrace for a second and pulling apart._

"_We've been fighting like this a lot lately. I'm sorry; you're just so handsome sometimes I think someone else is going to take you away from me." She stated, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek._

"_No one could ever take me away from you. You're the world to me."_

_**2 years later**_

"_Come on, Roxas! You gotta catch up to us now!" A nine-year old, chocolate-hair boy yelled as he ran beside a honey-blonde boy. These boys were the sons of Cloud and Tifa, their names were Sora, Roxas and Ventus who were triplets but fraternal because of their appearances. Sora, a boy who had chocolate hair and sea-blue eyes - Roxas and Ventus were honey-blonde haired boys with deep cerulean eyes that shone in the sunlight. It was mid-July and the three boys were playing in their grandparent's yard while the adults talked about serious business that children didn't bother to listen to._

"_This is the final straw, Cloud!" A familiar voice shouted from inside the cottage-like home. All the boys turned around at the same time and stared awestruck as their mother stomped out with a calm looking Cloud following behind her._

"_Tifa! Please just listen! It's not what you think; I don't even remember having this message saved anywhere!" Cloud shouted to her as she continued to stomp across the grass and towards her sons. Swiftly she picked them all up and brushed past Cloud as she walked to the car, placing the children in their respective seats and then herself into the passenger seat with an angered face on. Cloud sighed and bid a good-bye to his mother as he turned the car engine on and began to drive away. The drive was long for the short amount of time they actually spent in the car and no one talked until they reached their home. Cloud set his keys down in the bowl by the front door and everyone else filed in behind him. Tifa walked into the living room and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked around the room and sighed._

"_Cloud, could you come in here a minute." She called out to her husband. He emerged within seconds and Tifa let out a large sigh._

"_I know we've had our differences and such and I think I know of a way we can fix all of this so we aren't causing pain to ourselves and also to our children." She said calmly._

"_What are you proposing here, Tifa?" He asked, folding his arms with confusion spreading across his features._

"_I want a divorce."_

_**1 year later**_

_Papers upon papers had been filled out and they all led to this drastic day. Cloud and Tifa hadn't slept in the same bed or talked to each other informally for a whole year and their children were getting quite worried about what would happen once their parents split up. Who would go to which parent and how would they communicate? The answers just weren't filtering and the night before their court date for the divorce to go through, these boys heard their father crying while their mother was sound asleep. The courtroom was stuffy and the collars on the suits were itching against Roxas' sensitive skin. Sora and Ventus sat next to him with perfect posture and no signs of discomfort even they that this is the day one of them will be split from the others._

"_This court is now adjourned! Cloud Strife, you have full custody over Roxas Strife and Tifa Lockhart you now have custody over Sora and Ventus Strife. I bid a good day. Adjourned!" Said the judge as he smashed his gavel down onto the stand and walked off into another room. Tifa and Cloud shook hands formally and waved their children over. They all embraced in one last hug before they split in their different ways, not knowing when they would see one another again._

**7 years later: Present Time**

"Come on, Rox! We're going to be late, your mother is waiting for you in the next four towns over and if we don't leave now, we'll be late!" Cloud called up from the bottom of the stairs.

"Alright, alright I'm coming down right now!" Roxas shouted back down to his father. It had been exactly seven years since his parents got divorced and things seemed to be going fine, his father had a boyfriend surprisingly and his name was Zack Fair, who also happened to be his father's prior boss but Roxas promised not to tell his mother that her assumptions had always been right. He was now seventeen years old and stood at about 5'5 since then and felt as though he matured well. The school he went to wasn't his favorite and even though he didn't have any real friends around here, he still got to visit his brothers sometimes over the holidays and on birthdays, but besides that he never really got to his much of his family. Now all that was going to change since Roxas and his father were moving a town closer to his mother and Roxas would now be a transfer student at Radiant Garden High School with Sora and Ventus. This was going to be Roxas' junior year with his brothers and he was beyond excited about it.

A honk was heard from outside that stirred Roxas from his daydreaming and he picked up his skate board as he dashed out of his, now empty, room and ran outside to his father's car. He jumped into the passenger seat and stared out his window for a moment, this would be the last time he saw his small home in Twilight Town. He heard the car's engine start and smiled brightly as he saw that they were moving further and further away from their old home. This would the first time in two whole years since he last saw his mother and brothers and a plus side to all of this for Roxas was that it would be a permanent stay closer to his family. Cloud and Zack were great parents though, Roxas wasn't going to complain but all that testosterone got to your head sometimes and being with his mother from time to time would be great. Roxas thought about how the school would be and what kind of friends he was going to make there. Maybe Sora and Ventus would introduce him to their friends and they would all be a group of friends, which sounded great in his head. Roxas' eyes widened with excitement once he saw the sign on the highway that read in big bold letters 'Now entering Radiant Gardens'. His heart rate sped up and he sat forward in his seat. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone and began to type in Ventus' number. The ringing came to his ears as a joyous bell ringing throughout his heart, he'd miss this place so much his heart was pounding in his ears, and he would finally be one with his family again.

"_Hello? Roxas, is that you?"_ He heard his brother say through the speaker.

"Yeah it's me! Guess what! Were nearly there, just twenty more minutes and we'll be hugging each other again after so long."

"Oh my god, that's great Roxas! I'll go tell mom and Sora right now! Hey, how's dad doing by the way? Did he get married again to some pretty lady or what?" Ven asked.

"Well, funny thing Ven…" Roxas started to say before looking to his father. Cloud gave a calm head nod and focused on the road with a smile on his face which caused Roxas to also smile in return.

"Well what, Rox? Tell me, who is the lucky women?" He inquired again

"Dad's got a boyfriend. His names Zack Fair and he's really cool, I can't wait till you guys meet him." I said, still with a bright smile on my face.

"H-he does? Wow, who would've thought dad would switch teams like that after mom left him." Ven said. He sounded a bit shocked but not for too long. Roxas and Ventus continued their conversation from there, just catching up with each other a bit before they saw one another again. Before they both knew it, Cloud had pulled into the driveway of their new home and Roxas was saying good-bye to his brother and saying that they would see each other soon. Roxas hopped out of the car and caught the house keys that his father tossed to him as he ran to the door and opened it with ease. He was frozen in shock when he saw the inside of the house, it was the most amazing home he'd ever seen it beat his old house by a longshot.

"Roxas, come help me unpack the boxes and put them where they belong. Zack just pulled up with the furniture and stuff, go help him out." Cloud said as he came through the door with a pile of boxes in hand.

Roxas jumped down the three steps of the house and went to the U-Haul truck to help Zack unload the TV and couch. Roxas unloaded most of his boxes and went up the stairs to pick out a room to put them in. Walking up the stairs to the second floor, Roxas saw four doors and at least one of them had to be the bathroom. He opened each one and each room was fairly large in size, sighing he shifted his weight from his left side to his right. He turned his head upwards, closing his eyes and taking in the new scent of his home before opening his eyes again and seeing a box-like shape on the ceiling. It had a puller hanging down from it, which Roxas gladly took ahold of and began pulling it down to reveal a set of ladder-like stairs. He pulled it all the way opened and began to climb up into what should be the attic. Once he was up there he saw that the last home owners had not completely removed everything from this room.

Slowly Roxas walked around the room, removing the sheets from on top of old couches and other furniture things. So far in his find, there was one old grandfather clock he decided he was going to keep, a couch that was very sunken in and need to go to the trash, two night tables and a desk that would come in handy later, and lastly a fat stack of old records and a record player. He contemplated keeping them for a moment but voted against it because he knew he wouldn't use them anyway. He thought for a minute and decided that he was going to wither sell some of them or give them to his grandmother who is really interested in old records and such.

An hour and a half later, Roxas finally managed to get all of his stuff into his house in up to his new attic room. It took a while for him to convince Cloud to allow him the room up there but, with a little help from Zack, his father ended up saying yes in the end. Roxas sat on his bed and looked around the room giving it a good once over with his eyes. He liked this house and thought it was a great way to start with a clean slate and have a fresh beginning.

"Hey Roxas, come down here we're going to see your mother and have lunch!" He heard Zack call from downstairs. Roxas' face broke out into the biggest smile he could manage and he jumped off his bed, down the ladder and to the front door. He bounced happily on his toes as he waited for his parents to come outside. The all filed into the car and drove about ten minutes to his mother's house. Once they pulled up, Roxas was so happy he didn't even wait for his father to park before jumping out of the car and running up the front steps to his mother's house, knocking hastily at the door. Slowly the door opens to reveal a tall brown-haired woman at the age of 37 and looking as beautiful as she did when Roxas last saw her; this was his mother Tifa, the woman that birthed him.

"Mom…" He said, tears building up in his eyes.

"Hey Roxas, welcome home." She said quietly as she reached out to embrace her son. These were the moments that Roxas missed the most, the moments where he could just huge his mother forever and never let go. This is just what he needed to make his day a whole lot better than it already was.

"I miss you so much mom, it's been like two years since I last you in person." Roxas wiped his eyes and smiled happily at his mother, who smiled just as brightly back at him.

"I know, but now you won't have to be sad anymore because you're just a short drive or walk away from us now." She said, guiding him in the house. Cloud and Zack followed slowly behind as they entered into the living room, where Sora and Ventus were standing with gigantic smiles plastered onto their faces. Roxas broke away from his mother's embrace and ran to his brothers, pulling them both in for a way overdue hug.

"God, I've missed you guys so much! It's been way to long and I really missed being with you guys." He said as he looked at bother their faces. Nothing really changed about them since he last saw and he liked that, change never suited well with him.

"We've miss you too, Roxas." Sora said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"We even got a room upstairs set-up for you when you stay over!" Ven exclaimed. The expression on his face just shouted out how happy he was. Roxas smiled at his brothers then turned around to look at the adults. Cloud nodded at Roxas when they made eye contact and cleared his throat causing everyone in the room to look at him and Zack.

"Everyone, except for Roxas, I'd like to introduce you to my boyfriend Zack. We've been together for about 6 official years." Cloud stated proudly, wrapping his arm around Zack's waist. Zack smile and waved at everyone but stopped all together when he looked at the expression on Tifa's face. She was in complete shock and looked like she was about to break down in tears by the looks of it. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her to make sure she was going to be alright. Her breaths were a bit jagged and she put a hand over her chest, opening and closing her eyes slowly she looked at everyone's face with a blank expression.

"Cloud, I want you to take Roxas and your _boyfriend_ home now. Don't bring him into my house again, I will only allow my son back here. Get out." She said, not raising her voice but the words seemed to spill out like venom from her lips.

"Tifa… I don't understand what's-"He started but was immediately cut off.

"I said GET THE FUCK OUT OFF MY HOUSE, YOU LOUSY FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! I KNEW YOU WERE SLEEPING BEHIND MY BACK ALL THOSE YEARS BUT I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WITH ANOTHER MALE! I AM DISGUSTED I EVER CALLED YOU MY HUSBAND! GET OUT OF MY GOD DAMN HOUSE NOW, CLOUD AND TAKE THAT FILTHY PIECE OF SHIT WITH YOU!" She shouted, her chest rising and falling rapidly and her face contorted in the way you would look at something with disgust. Everyone was silent, no one said anything.

Roxas frowned at his mother and hugged his brother's good-bye. He walked past Tifa shaking his head disapprovingly as he and his father made their way to the front door without uttering a single word. As Roxas got into the car, he heard and saw his mother slam the door closed fiercely and he let out a deep sigh he didn't even know he was holding in. The ride home was quiet and fast, before they all realized it they had pulled back into their drive way and were back inside the house, continuing to unpack all their belongings. No one spoke to one another for at least an hour before they all decided to go get some lunch. When they got back to the house, everything seemed to go back to normal; his father and his father's boyfriend were happily talking while Roxas sat across from them on the other couch, playing Xbox.

Everything seemed to be fine for the rest of the night, hopefully tomorrow would be even better for Roxas than today.

* * *

**A/N:** _HEY! You made it to the end, that's great! Thank you for reading and I hope you stick around for a while, yeah? I'll have a new chapter up fairly soon or at least I will try to by maybe Monday or Tuesday? Maybe I have practice those days though. (Yeah, high school is a drag.)_

_Please review, it would make me really happy!_


	2. Chapter II

**A/N: **_WOO! Another chapter! I actually really liked this chapter and it came to me today during school and I was like "Wow, I'm gonna write the fuck out of this." Chapters are going to start getting intense from here on out so be prepared!_

_Enjoy Chapter II!**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter II: Who is this guy?**

A loud knock resounded off the walls of Roxas' room as he jolted awake. Sitting up in his bed and looked around till his eyes fell to where his alarm clock was. The time read 7 am and he ran a hand through his golden locks, it was already time for him to go to school again. Slowly he lifted the blankets off of his legs and the cold November air nipped at his legs from the small crack in the window that was open. Roxas rubbed his eyes of the eye crust that was there and looked around his room. Today was his first day at a new school and he wanted to make a good impression on how people would see him from their point of view. Walking into his fairly large closet, he looked through all his clothes and picked out a regular black V-neck and a pair of denim skinnies along with his favorite pair of black Vans. He made his way down the ladder and to the bathroom for a quick five minute shower. When he was finished, he climbed up the ladder again just in time to hear his phone ringing.

"Hello?" He said as he began pulling on each different article of clothing.

"Hey Rox! Better be ready fast cause we'll be there at 7:40 sharp! We gotta give a small tour around the school and get your schedule set up!" Sora shouted happily into the speaker of the phone. Roxas smiled inwardly to himself and jumped up and down a little while still pulling on clothes.

"Don't you worry, Sora! I'll be ready and waiting for you guys!" Roxas said, his smile growing larger and larger as he thought about exploring his new school for the first time.

"Alright, we'll see you in 15 minutes then, ciao!" And with that, the line went dead and Roxas pulled his shirt on, slipped his sneakers on and put his phone into his pocket. He walked over to his bed and put in the school supplies he thought he would need for his first day. Grabbing his iPod from the night table and slinging his bag over his shoulder, he slowly made his way down the ladder for a third time that morning and down the stairs into the kitchen.

"Morning Roxas, want something?" Zack said turning around as Roxas put his things down and sat at the table.

"That would be awesome! Can I just get and omelet made like extra fast before Sora and Ven get here, please?" He asked politely as he watched Zack take out the ingredients needed.

"Sure thing kiddo, it'll take just two short minutes." Zack said with a dazzling smile. He began cracking the eggs onto the pan and the sizzling sounds seemed like music to Roxas' ears knowing that when it stopped, his food would be ready to go in his mouth.

Before he knew it, Zack had a plate out and place the omelet gently onto it and slid it in front of Roxas' face as well as placing a fork next to him. As soon as Zack turned back around, Roxas dug right into his food and if his mouth weren't so full he would have told Zack just how much he enjoyed his food. Seconds later a car horn was heard outside and Roxas quickly thanked Zack before grabbing his things and rushing out of the house.

"GOOD MORNING ROXAS! ARE YOU READY FOR A GREAT DAY AT SCHOOL?!" Sora shouted as Roxas emerged from the front door of his house. Roxas could only manage a chuckle and a nod before approaching the car fully and opening the side passenger door to hop in.

"I am actually very excited; a new school is just what I need to start a bit fresh, yeah?" Roxas stated, a smiled evident on his calm features.

"That's right! Oh my god, I can't wait to introduce you to our friends, Roxas! They'll be so bewildered when they see that Ven has a twin besides me!" Sora squealed as he bounced up and down in the driver's seat.

"Oh, I was meaning to ask you, where is Ven?" He asked a bit confused that his brother wasn't there.

"Ven went to school early to see our friends and tell them a bit about you and stuff!" Sora said excitedly.

Roxas frowned a bit and looked out the car window as he watched the road pass by. He was a bit disappointed that Sora and Ven hadn't told their friends about him until now, I mean, who doesn't tell their friends about their third twin brother? He let out a silent sigh as he felt the car come it a slow stop.

"Well here we are, Radiant Garden High School. Isn't this just great?! We'll be school buddies now!" Sora shouted as he unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the car.

"Yeah, it's really exciting." Roxas said in a low tone to himself as he slid out of the car. He seemed a bit less enthusiastic than he did a few moments ago. Hearing that his own brothers never spoke a word about him seemed kind of mean and hurt his feelings a bit. He walked slowly behind Sora with a blank expression on his face and let his eyes wander around so he could get used to the grounds that he'd be walking for the next two years.

"Hey look, there's everyone! HEY GUYS, LOOK WHO I BROUGHT!" Sora shouted, waving violently at a small group of kids that were sitting under a large oak tree waving silently back to him.

When they got closer to the group, Roxas seemed a bit more nervous now than excited and he turned on his shy mode because he didn't know these people and he didn't know what to say to them.

"Hey guys! This is Ven and I's twin brother, Roxas! He's going to be going here for junior and senior year, isn't that great? He'll get to graduate with us and everything!" Sora said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Hi Roxas, my names Kairi and I'm in the drama club and the softball team!" A redheaded girl stated proudly as she got up from her spot and shook Roxas' hand firmly.

"Over there sleeping with the silver hair is Riku. He's on the boxing team so try not to upset him too much and he won't have a reason to beat you up!" She said, with a bubbly expression on her face.

"The blonde girl is my cousin, Namine. She's a really good artist and will draw whatever looks good to her, she's also a part of the art club."

"Oh yeah speaking of family members, guess who's not coming today." A boy with blonde hair said.

"Who? Oh by the way, that's Tidus and next to him is Wakka and Selphie, their both seniors along with Riku." Kairi said with a smile.

"The redheaded devil, god I just hate that guy he can sure cause a lot of trouble, glad he's not here today." Tidus said, a look of disgust crossing his face. That seemed to peak Roxas' interest because as soon as that was said everyone else let out a breath that he didn't know they were holding.

"Who are you talking about?" Roxas asked in a low voice, he thought that nobody heard him when no one answered.

"Oh my god! You don't want to know Roxas, he's a bad guy and you shouldn't worry yourself about him. Just make sure to stay away from him." Kairi said wagging a finger in his face.

Now Roxas was really confused, how could he stay away from someone he didn't even know? He shrugged his shoulders and Kairi continued introducing everyone. So far he met Aqua, Terra, Selphie, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, and Zexion. Kairi told him that come lunch time he would know who their whole group was.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Sora is supposed to be showing you around the building and telling you how everything goes. Better hurry now, Sora you have about fifteen minutes till bell." Kairi said pushing Roxas and Sora in the direction of the front doors. Sora looked at his brother and smiled widely, grabbing Roxas' hand.

"Alright well here are the basics. Classes officially start at 8:15 but the bell rings at 8:10 so you should probably go between those times. Our classes are an hour and a half long so you'll get out of first period by 9:40 and think of the schedule like that. Now lunch is 35 minutes, you can either choose to go off campus or go to the cafeteria and eat in there our outside, which is what most of the students do anyway unless it's super cold outside but today is a nice day so don't worry about that, just make sure you have a sweater. You do have one in that bag don't you?" Sora asked, raising a brow at his brother's odd attire for late November weather. Roxas nodded and unzipped his bag to show his red pullover hoodie.

Roxas walked alongside Sora as he listened to him point out various rooms and the different classes that were held in most of them. He also showed Roxas where most if the clubs and such were being held that day and throughout the week, since school kind of just started. He also happened to mention the play that Kairi was holding auditions for at the start of December, Romeo and Juliet.

Roxas listened carefully and made sure to memorize everything perfectly so he would not have to ask anyone where anything was. Roxas bumped into Sora's back as he came to an unexpected stop and hid behind the wall, looking around the corner.

"You see the guy with red hair over there, Roxas? His name is Reno Turk and let's just says, he's way too cocky for his own good, much like his younger brother who's in our grade. Be sure to stay away from him and that group of people he's standing with or else you'll be in a heap of trouble. To put it simply, they're bad news you don't want to hear." Sora said in a very serious tone. He looked at the group and thought back to what Tidus said about a redheaded freak, he thought now was a good chance to ask.

"Hey Sora, was the 'redheaded freak' Tidus mentioned earlier that guy Reno?" Roxas asked quietly as he looked back to the tall redhead.

"Oh no, no no. Don't get yourself involved with anyone who is ever near Reno unless it's one of us, then that means were just trying to pass by and he caught us." Sora said with a light smile before grabbing Roxas' wrist again and rushing down the hall passed the group of kids and made it swiftly to the main office.

As they entered into the office there was a draft of hot air that hit their faces and they slowly walked up to the front desk.

"Hey Ms. West, this here is my brother Roxas who just transferred and we're here to get his schedule." Sora said to the gray-haired woman with a bright smile on his face. The woman shrugged and went through a pile of papers next to her before pulling one out and handing it over to Sora, who then passed it onto Roxas.

"There you go Rox! Your schedule now let me see it really quick." With a quick swipe it was back in Sora's hand as he examined it and handed it back to Roxas.

"We have first period together! Now see how the numbers go one, two,three,four spaaaaaace five,six,seven,eight? That tells you what day you have those specific classes, so basically you have those classes every other day which is what we call A and B days, get it? Good, now lunch is before your third period on A days and before your seventh period on B days which means you have A lunch both days, just like me, Riku, Kairi and Namine!. Some days the others join us but I think that's only on B days. We share lunch with all grades so it's mixed from freshman all the way to seniors, so do you have any questions?" Sora stated as he put his hands behind his head and leaned back a little. Roxas thought a moment and let all this new information seep into his mind for a moment before shaking his head smiling a bit at him brother. Just as Sora was going to start talking again the bell rang overhead and Sora grabbed Roxas' hand for almost the fifth time this morning and began to pull him to their first lesson.

Once they reached the door, Sora was panting heavily and he pushed the door open allowing Roxas to enter first. Sora and Roxas were the first two who arrived to the class so this gave time for Roxas to get to know his teacher. The man behind the desk had bleach blonde hair and various piercing on his ears and a goatee the same color as his hair. Sora cleared his throat and smiled warmly at the teacher as he looked up.

"Oh, hello Sora, this must be your brother Roxas the new student who transferred three months late to school. Well my name is Sir Luxord or just plainly Luxord, you may notice today that a lot of teachers will allow you to call them by their real name rather than last since most of us are between our early twenties and late thirties like me, I am only 35 years old. I will teaching you the glories of English Literature, I do hope you enjoy a good read and go out for the school play next month because I may be giving out extra credit for those who decided to join." The blonde man, Luxord, said with a heavy British accent that made it sorta hard to understand him. Roxas nodded to the man and shook his hand, not really having to introduce himself since this guy already knew who he was.

The next bell rung again and Luxord pointed Roxas to a two seated desk, much like the others, in the back of the classroom closest to the window. Roxas liked his window seat because he could daydream a bit but still keep up with his studies. Suddenly he was hit with a ball of paper and looked up to see Sora motioning for him to open it up.

_CHANGE YOUR SEAT AND COME BY ME, YOU WON'T LIKE THAT SEAT ANYWAY._

Roxas read the note to himself and sighed, turning and shaking his head to his brother. This must be because the person who sits next to him is the kid he was being told to stay away from. He shrugged his shoulders and tossed the note back to Sora who got hit in the back of the head by the paper ball. Roxas smiled inadvertently to himself and he looked around the room to all the new faces and also two familiar faces. Namine and Kairi both sat at the front of the classroom chatting away it seemed and he smiled at them when they turned to him, giggling.

"Now students, I would like to inform you of the new student we have joining us. Please stand and tell us your name and some things you like to do." Luxord said through his accent and Roxas easily complied but suddenly felt very uncomfortable under all the judging eyes of hormonal teenagers. He swallowed the lump in his throat and opened his mouth to speak.

"Hello, my name is Roxas Strife and I like to play video games, read books and draw, I guess." Roxas shrugged at the end and sat back down which cause everyone to turn back around and face Luxord again.

Luxord began doing roll call and Roxas just aimlessly stared outside of the window and began trying to match a face to this mysterious redhead his brother hated so much. He imagined that he had some really crazy features though, maybe the guy was fat or maybe he was really thin. Roxas' face contorted in frustration a bit because he couldn't match anything to the mysterious person.

"Axel Turk. Has anybody seen that god forsaken redhead? That bloody wanker must be off doing some spotty business somewhere." Luxord scoffed as he went back to calling more names.

The rest of the period went by seemly fast and Roxas didn't seem to mind at all and he was glad that his next class was art because he could now talk to Namine and get to know her more. When he entered the room he was captivated by all the wonderful canvases that were laid out before him. Each had their own intellectual painting that told a story of its own and Roxas was glad he got to choose the classes he wanted.

"Oh welcome, new comer! You must Roxas I presume, yes?" The bubbly brown-haired woman said to him and he nodded slowly to her. "Just wonderful, Namine told me you were coming, you can go ahead and take the empty canvas right next to her and begin painting what you're thinking right at this very moment, be sure to get all your supplies you need before taking a seat and remember to just have fun!" The woman, who he later found out was Aeirth or Ms. Gainsborough, gave him a thumbs up as she went back to picking up various items and such. Roxas set his stuff down next to Namine and examined her drawing outline for a moment before realizing who it was. His eyes widened as his eyes made contact with hers and she smiled brightly at him.

"IS it any good? I was hoping to use it as a portrait to put on my bedroom wall." She asked. The outline was of Namine herself sitting on the edge of a river with her feet in the water as she was looking down as her reflection, there also looked to be a ghost or shadow standing next to her and Roxas opened his mouth but before he could say words Namine spoke.

"The ghost you see there is my Nana who passed away late last summer. I was pretty devastated because this river is where she took me when I was a child and she was one of my closest relatives." Namine said her voice a bit shaky but she didn't shed one tear. Roxas wrapped his arm around her shoulders and smiled warmly at her as she did it back to him.

The second bell rung for the start of the period to finally begin and five more students filed into class going to their respective canvases. Roxas stared at his blank canvas for a moment before Ms. Gainsborough called him over to her.

"Attention students, this is Roxas Strife a transfer from Twilight Town. Make sure to give him a big Radiant welcome!" She said happily before letting the students get back to work. Few of them said hi to him and he smiled warmly and got to know a few of their names. They seemed like a nice bunch of people to have around as friends.

Roxas looked at the canvas next to him which had a shadow-like body dripping back ooze from all over and flames' beginning at its feet and it was from a side view perspective so it gave it this kind of eerie feel and vibe to it. Roxas stared awestruck at the canvas for a minute, what could possess someone to paint something so dark like that? Suddenly a voice came from behind him and he jumped up a bit until he realized it was just Ms. Gainsborough.

"Axel Turk painted this. I've got to say out of all the classes he has, this is the one he does best in and I'm actually proud he likes my class because I'm not as strict as most teachers are towards him. I never yell, well except out of excitement and I always take my time with him, he even told me one day that I had to be one of his favorite teachers he's ever had. He may be a bad kid to everyone else but I just think he needs someone who understands him." Aeirth concluded with a smile prominent on her face.

Roxas smiled as well and turned back to his canvas, now knowing exactly what he was going to paint. Roxas took various reds and purple and greens and began shaping crimson electric lightning bolts going all over the top of the page and a deep jade green colored eye in the center along with a purple upside down tear drop right underneath the eye.

Aeirth stood behind him the whole forty-two minutes he painted and watched as his painting matched perfectly to what Axel looked like even though she knew that Roxas has probably never seen the young boy a day in his life. Aeirth placed a hand on his shoulders and he turned to her with a smile.

"Roxas, may I put your painting in the glass case outside of the classroom so that everyone could see it? I think this is a wonderful painting and I think that everyone should get to look at it. Sign your name at the bottom too so that everyone knows this is your work." Once she said this, he felt tight arms wrap around him and she smiled down at the boy, knowing that maybe when people see this they'll understand a little bit more about the mysteries of art.

* * *

**A/N:** _END OF CHAPTER II_

_Thank you for reading! Review if you find and simple mistakes or just cause!_

_P.S: The school schedule I put in here is how my actual school schedule is!_

_Hope you enjoyed! Until next time, loves._


	3. Chapter III

**Chapter III: Meetings and Greetings**

Roxas' first day had been the greatest in his life. On his first assignment, his teacher had asked him if he could have it on display which he gladly said yes to. It was now day two for Roxas and he was sitting in the car right now with both of his brothers. Roxas stared out of the window then remember that he hadn't seen Ventus almost all day yesterday until dismissal.

"Hey Ven, why didn't I see you much yesterday?" Roxas asked with a concerned voice.

"I-I was um caught up with something." Ven stammered, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh yeah, he was busy with his man candy!" Sora shouted, earning a smack on the back of the head by Ven.

"M-man candy? Ven is this true? You have a boyfriend? Does mom know? Did she freak out at you?" Roxas asked he looked between Sora and Ventus. Sora had the biggest smile on his face and Ven's cheeks were stained with crimson.

"Y-yeah, I'm with someone and no mom doesn't know that I am with someone so don't tell her a thing!" Ven said as he turned around and pointed a finger in Roxas' face. Roxas smiled at his brother and nodded happily at him.

"I'm happy for you Ven! You found someone who can make you happy and that's fine with me no matter what their down south area is like." Roxas said with a smile on his lips. Ven and Sora exchange looks and smiled right back at Roxas because of how understanding he could be. Slowly, Sora pulled up to the school lot and parked right on the side and jumped out of the car.

"Are you gonna tell me his name, by the way?" Roxas asked as he walked alongside of Ventus.

"His name is Vanitas but be careful because we look a lot alike and I don't want him to mistake you for me!" Ven said, pointing his index finger in Roxas' face again. Roxas lifted his hands up defensively and chuckled a bit as they drew closer to their small group of friends. Roxas felt happy to be accepted into this group of people because he was new and usually everyone hates the new kid but this time was different, here everyone acted like your friend or so he thought.

Once they all walked up, Roxas was immediately embraced by Namine. She had on a baggy white sweater with black tights and some brown riding boots. He thought that her outfit was really nice and complimented her on it to which she blushed madly and said bashful things and gave compliments to Roxas as well. The group chatter was something he could get used to because this way he could learn more about everyone and everything in just a small amount of time.

The meaningless chatter for about another ten minutes before the school bell rung and all the other students started to file into the building. Roxas and Namine walked into the building and to her locker to gather some of her much needed books.

"So Roxas how do you like this school so far?" She asked in a sweet voice as she pulled out her sketchbook, notebook and textbook from the locker.

"I think I'm-"Before Roxas could finish, he was interrupted by a sudden shout of Namine's name.

"NAMINE! NAMINE! Good news! Axel isn't here again today but I heard he's been in a bad mood for the past two weeks because someone _tried_ to rat him out to the principal about him smoking on the roof. He's supposed to be back tomorrow but can you believe he almost pushed the kid off the edge?! It's so crazy but I can handle him most days, I think he just needs a boyfriend or girlfriend or a dog maybe." A blonde-haired boy with a 80s styled hairdo talked extremely fast and Roxas was surprised that Namine understood most of it.

"Alright Demyx, thank for the heads up. By the way, Demyx meet Roxas, he's a transfer here from Twilight Town and is going to be graduating with me and his brothers." Namine said politely as the mullet-haired guy stepped closer to Roxas and leaned in so that their faces were almost an inch apart.

"Wicked cool! So that means you guys are triplets? Sora and Ventus are your brothers, right? They're so nice to my little sister and now with a new addition of you, it'll make her happy which keeps me happy." Demyx stood straight up again and looked around before pointing in Roxas' face. He looked suspicious for a moment before he spoke up again. "You're not the same Roxas that did the lightning bolt and green eye painting are you? If you are then we have something to talk about." He said as he inched closer to Roxas so he almost towered over him.

"That is his painting, I watched him paint it because he sat right next to me in Art yesterday, why? Is there going to be a problem?" Namine stepped in and came between her brother and Roxas' body before something bad happened.

"You better hope that he is okay with this but what I want to know is has Roxas ever even seen Axel before?" There was that name again. Roxas was getting tired of hearing a name he didn't know who it belonged to.

"Who's Axel? I've been hearing his name since I got here yesterday. Who is this guy?" Roxas asked as he placed his hands firmly on his hips, looking between Namine and Demyx.

"I guess you'll find out tomorrow, now won't you then? See ya later!" And with that the mullet-haired boy was gone. Another bell rung overhead and Roxas knew that meant he needed to go to class. Namine grabbed ahold of Roxas' hand and that's how they walked together to class, hand-in-hand much like a couple but more in a friendly gesture kind of way- Or so he though, he had no idea what was going through Namine's head but she was cooking up a plan.

The day went by seemingly fast and before Roxas knew it he was going off to lunch with Sora and Ventus, along with a few other people from their morning group. They all sat and chattered and before Roxas knew it, he was back in class listening to the teacher ran on and on about different forms of financial aid. Soon after Roxas got bored and ended up dozing off and waking up just as the dismissal bell rung and he hadn't even remembered shifting to his last period class.

_Next Morning_

Roxas woke up the next morning to begin his usual routine. For the past two day, he's woken up earlier so that he wouldn't miss breakfast in the morning. This morning seemed sort of slow for Roxas because today was the day he was actually going to walk to school himself. Technically he wasn't walking; he was going to ride his skateboard that he hadn't touched for about a year. Roxas ate his meal and before he knew it, he was already out the door and making his way down the street as the wind brushed his hair every which way. As time went one, Roxas could see the building slowly coming into his view.

"HEY ROXAS!" A familiar voice shouted as Roxas stopped at the front gate of the school and looked around. He saw Sora and Ventus waving vigorously for him to come over; he smiled softly and dashed over to them but not before bumping into someone.

"S-sorry didn't mean to bump you." Roxas said shyly before moving away and running over to his brothers and friends. From the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw a flash of red but he decided to push it off.

"Morning guys, what are you all staring at?" Roxas said with a confused look on his face as he looked at everyone. They seemed to be staring behind him so he turned his head slightly to try and see what they were looking at. He saw nothing and when he turned to his friends, they all had blank expressions on. He titled his head a bit before Sora squealed and jumped around excitedly.

"Look guys, Riku's here!" Sora said before he ran past Roxas and straight to the silverette who was walking into the courtyard of the school. Everyone shrugged off Sora's behavior and went back to their normal chatter.

Roxas sighed and went over to sit next to Namine, who was casually drawing in her sketch pad. She looked up and immediately stopped her drawing and put her sketch pad and pencil down next to her. She wrapped her thin arms around his waist and nuzzled her face into his side. He loosely put his arms around her and leaned his head against hers. Roxas didn't think much of this gesture because he thought it as something friends do and it shouldn't matter how they looked to others, they knew it was all good.

The bell rang and everyone began to scurry around and walked through the door of the building. Namine and Roxas walked into the building when Roxas stopped in his spot, again he saw the flash of red and he looked around for a moment. Namine looked at him quizzically and he simply smiled at her and shrugged. They walked to her locker than to his before walking to the second floor for English class. Once they entered the room they were greeted by Sora forcibly pulling Roxas to the seat next to him while Namine when to go sit next to Kairi. Roxas was confused for a moment but thought nothing of it; he would only sit in this seat until the official class bell rung.

"Sora, who were you guys staring at this morning? You all looked like you saw a ghost when I walked over." Roxas asked as he looked around the room. He studied everyone's faces and it seemed like they were all talking about the same thing. He heard slight whispers of 'he's here today' or 'I heard he had gang business to attend to.' Roxas looked at his brother, who was unbelievably to quiet for his usual eccentric nature.

"It's because _he's_ here." Sora said, hissing lowly as he said the word _he_. Before Roxas could respond, the bell rung and Luxord entered through the door with a few students trailing behind him. Roxas sighed and trudged to his seat in the back, claiming his seat next to the window. Roxas stared out the window for a long while before he heard his name being called. He looked up and saw that Luxord was staring at him from the front of the classroom, waiting for the answer to his question. He quickly read over the passage on the board and read the question placed next to it and calmly said his full answer which got him a pleased smirk from Luxord. The time for class came and went as the bell rang for their next period class. Namine took hold of Roxas' hand as they both exited the classroom and made their way up the stairs to the art room. As they got to the classroom Namine quickly pushed Roxas behind her back and walked quietly into the room. As they walked to their seats Roxas noticed that Namine was glaring very fiercely at something behind him. He turned his head immediately recognized the crimson red color that was lying atop someone's head. Namine turned his head back around to look at her and she had the most serious expression on in the world, Roxas could have sworn that she was going to burn holes in his eyes when she stared at him. He wanted to turn back around and look at the person to decipher who they were but Namine refused to let go of him.

"What the fuck are you two doing? Ventus, don't you have another class you should be in or a closet you and your boyfriend should be making out in." The voice was a smooth as silk and Roxas ripped his face away from Namine's grasp to turn around and stare at the person behind him. For a moment they stared at each other before Roxas mustered up enough lung power to speak.

"I-I'm not Ventus, I'm his twin brother R-Roxas." He said nervously, scratching the back of his head and looking away. When he looked back up the redheaded person was glaring hard at him and he could feel his face slightly heating up from embarrassment. The redhead scoffed and dropped himself onto his stool, not taking another glance at the blonde pair. Just then did Aerith walk into the room from the art supply closet and began to write down the assignment on the whiteboard.

"Good Morning, Class! Happy Thursday and I hope everything is well with you all." The brown-haired woman smiled happily. "Now that we have almost all the class with us today, let us begin our assignment! We will be doing portraits, so close your eyes and think hard about the person you want to draw. It could be a friend, a family member, or that little crush you have. Oh and maybe you could even do yourself!" She said glancing at the faces of each student in her room. Roxas looked to Namine and they both smiled broadly at each other, portraits were their favorite types of paintings. After Aerith finished telling everyone what to do, Roxas got out of his seat and quickly rushed to the pastel colors. He knew exactly what he was going to do but he didn't _exactly_ know how he was going to approach it. Roxas picked up two boxes of pastels and walked back to his seat, staring at his blank canvas. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned his head towards Namine.

"Do you, um, mind if I painted you, Roxas?" She asked, shyly and twiddled her thumbs. Roxas laughed slightly and nodded his head. Namine squealed a bit and took her pencil so she could sketch out the way Roxas would look in her painting. Roxas turned back to his canvas when Namine was done sketching her outline. He picked up his own pencil and began a rough sketch of himself in Victorian styled clothing. He decided that he would put a border around it so it would look a bit more like a picture in a frame. Once he began to add the flesh tone colors, he felt as if someone was staring at him and he shivered slightly. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Axel staring at him and his painting. Roxas looked at Axel's painting and noticed it was of himself looking rather depressed and lonesome, the arms were crossed one over the other and the face was apathetic but in the eyes you could see utter sadness. Axel's painting was looking wondrous and it wasn't even the final thing. Roxas turned his eyes back to his canvas as he continued to rub on the pastel color to the features of his painting. After fifty-seven agonizing minutes of making sure he had every shade correct and every color in the perfect place, Roxas had a nice portrait painting of himself and he was quite proud of it. Aerith came by and took a look at it and told him to put it on the wall closest to the door. He hung his painting up and stared at it for a moment. As Roxas turned back to his seat he saw Axel hanging his painting up as well. Roxas stared at it, mesmerized as he took in all of the great features that were painted onto the canvas; it looked almost like a photograph. He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a tug on his arm and he turned his head to the side to see Namine giving him a scrutinizing look.

"Why are you looking at him so intensely?" She asked, glaring over his shoulder. Roxas' face scrunched up in a confused manner and he stared at Namine. Usually she was a calm and nice girl but he felt like he was seeing an ugly side of her.

"I was just checking out his painting Namine, I don't see the harm in that." He said in a hushed tone and shrugged his shoulders. Questions came to his mind, he really wanted to know why all of the people he was around didn't like Axel, and he just seemed lonely.

"Just stay away from him Roxas, he's bad news and I don't want you getting hurt." She said in a sweet tone, giving Roxas a sad expression. He sighed and nodded his head solemnly at the girl as they both made their way back to the seats. Namine pulled out her sketch pad and Roxas watched as she began the outline of a face. Roxas moved to pull out his sketch pad when a small pale hand came to stop him.

"Don't move I'm trying to draw you." She said, smiling and giggling lightly. Roxas nodded and went back to his former position before staring at him as she drew his mussed up hair and when she began his eyes he was a bit confused. He looked as if his was sad and he didn't think that was how he was feeling. He was about to ask her why she drew him so saddened but the bell rung, interrupting him. Namine closed her sketch book and smiled up at him.

"Come on Roxas, let's go meet up with everyone else for lunch." She stated calmly as she began to leave the room. Axel walked behind her and closed the door as soon as she was out of the room, leaving only the teacher, Roxas, and Axel. Aerith emerged from the closet and looked at Axel.

"Sweetie, why did you close the door? Are you staying here for lunch or what? You gotta tell me these things beforehand because you never know if I'm going to leave." She said with a small smile as she started organizing papers and pulling out her sketch pads and colors. She turned around again and gasped.

"Oh Roxas, why are you still here? Don't you leave with Namine today?" She asked, titled her head a bit as she placed a hand on her hip. Roxas froze in his spot when he stood back up, backpack slung over his shoulder. He looked around the room and his eyes landed on Axel's body which was hunched over on a stool.

"If you want to stay here, Roxas you can I have no objections to it! Just make sure you're doing some type of work so I don't get in trouble!" She said as she turned back into the art closest pulling out some small supplies.

_I guess I could eat somewhere else today._ Roxas thought to himself as he gently placed his bag onto the floor and sat back on his stool. He pulled out his sketch pad and though long and hard about what he was about to draw before actually smiling to himself and picked up his pencil so he could begin. He did a rough sketch and touched it up a bit before getting up to go get colors and begin coloring some of the much needed parts. Roxas stared at his work after he was done and smiled before getting up and walking to Aerith.

"Ooh! A rough drawing, my favorite!" She sang and took the sketch from his hand. She let out a sharp gasp and draped her arm across Roxas' shoulder, leaning a bit to whisper in his ear. "This is a very good drawing and I think you should give it to him." Aerith said in a hushed tone as she nodded towards Axel who was drawing on his own sketch book. Roxas blushed furiously and shook his head slightly, what would the other boy think if Roxas just gave Axel that sketch of him? That seemed a bit bad because it was seem like Roxas was watching him the whole time to take in so much of his features. Aerith smiled at him and nudged him forward a bit and nodded her head in reassurance. Roxas swallowed a lump in his throat and walked over to where the tall redhead was sitting. His footsteps must have been loud because the redhead automatically looked up and stared at Roxas with a blank expression. Roxas stuck out his hand with the sketch in it and put it in Axel's lap.

"I d-drew this for you, I hope you don't think it's weird or creepy I just think-" He was cut off by Axel's hand in his face as he studied the picture and when he was done he looked back to Roxas.

"It's great, thanks." He said in a nonchalant and cool way. Roxas felt like he was going to melt under the boy's cat-like gaze and then it hit him. He smiled and turned back and made his way to his stool, drawing some more things. Roxas couldn't help himself each time he looked up and stared at Axel for a moment. The way the other boy moved and let his hands glide on the paper as he drew was mesmerizing to Roxas. The lunch end of lunch bell rang overhead and he picked up his bag slowly. He was about to walk out of the door but stopped when he felt the need to go talk to Axel again, who was still sitting at his stool, drawing. He slowly walked over to Axel and tapped him on the shoulder, which caused the other to slowly lift his head and then looked back at his drawing.

"What is it?" He said as he continued to draw.

"D-do y-you maybe, I don't know, wanna hang out with me later?" Roxas asked shyly as he scratched the back of his neck and looked at his shoes. He heard the sound of a pencil snap and looked at Axel, who was staring straight back at him.

"Are you really asking me to hang out with you? What are your friends going to think? What are my friends going to think? I'm supposed to be keeping up a fucking reputation that everyone's put on me, I don't think I have time for 'hanging out'." Axel said as he began shoving books and such into his backpack.

"I just wanted to be nice and get to know you. If you opened up a bit more, maybe people wouldn't think of you in such a bad manner." Roxas sighed out as he shifted his bag of his shoulder and stared at Axel's back when the boy finally stopped shuffling so much and turned around to look at the blonde-haired boy.

"I'll hang out with you, then. Meet me behind the school at 3:15 and be ready to leave, I don't want to be seen at all." He stated, pointing in Roxas' face and turning to walk out of the room. Once the redhead was gone, Roxas couldn't help but smile and make a small sound of happiness which caused Aerith to look up in return and smile herself. She knew that someone was going to come along and befriend Axel.

* * *

**A/N:** _END OF CHAPTER III_

_Wow, I am soooooo sorry that I couldn't get this chapter out fast enough. I got the flu for a week and I also had schoola and some work to catch up on, also report cards are coming out for first term and I had to make sure all my grades were good plus! I rewrote this chapter because the first time it came out like shit._  
_ Anyways..._

_Please tell me any mistakes you spot and I'll be sure to go back and fix them for you!  
_

_Thanks for reading and please review, it makes me smile :)_


	4. Chapter IV

**A/N: **_WOO A_ _CHAPTER! This chapter is a bit longer than the others, it came out to like 5,141 where as the others are only like 3,000+. Anyways, Please enjoy Chapter IV.**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter IV: Mysterious Messages**

Roxas was giddy all throughout his second to last period class and was now sitting in his final period, happy as ever. Sora and Ventus traded suspicious looks when they saw Roxas staring and smiling brightly at nothing particular and decided that when it was time to pair up for the class project, they would ask him about his sudden happiness. After five minutes the teacher told everyone to get in groups of three which caused Sora and Ven to dash over to Roxas before anyone else. Roxas smiled up at the two boys happily and Sora laughed nervously.

"Roxas, what the hell are you smiling about?" Ven asked in a slightly frustrated tone. Why was his brother all of a sudden extremely happy? Sora and Ventus exchanged another set of strange looks before leaning closer to their brother, getting in his face.

"Why are you so suspicious? I can't be happy, is that it? I'm not allowed to have a smile on my face?" Roxas snapped back, slamming his hands on the desk.

The two brothers were taken aback by Roxas' sudden outburst and shrunk in their seats. The whole classroom was staring at them now and they covered their faces in shame. Roxas was angry that he couldn't freely express himself without their being some kind of suspicion. Roxas angrily began to pack his school bag and rushed out of the classroom, ignoring the yells from his teacher. Roxas walked up the school stairs until he reach the last floor which had one door with a small window. Looking through it, Roxas found that it leads to the room and he decided this is where he would stay until dismissal. He slowly pushed the door open and looked around for something that would keep it slightly propped open so that he wouldn't lock himself out. He spotted a brick laying just an arms-length away and he reached forward, just grabbing it and setting it in between the crevice of the door and the wall so it kept the door opened. He slowly walked out and was immediately hit by a nice cool breeze and he just stopped for a moment to just breathe. Out of the corner of his eye, Roxas spotter a small ladder leading further up the roof and he jogged over and started to climb his way up.

Once on the very top, he placed his bag down by a set of pushed-up window places and looked over the edge of the building, lucky enough that there was a railing so he wouldn't fall over. The fall breeze brushed all over Roxas' face and he indulged in it fully, just enjoying being alive. He pulled his phone out from his pocket when it suddenly vibrated, wondering who could be texting him even though he knows not many people have his number. He slid his finger across the screen to unlock it and quickly read over the message.

_YOUR EYES ARE LIKE THE OCEAN AND I JUST WANT TO SWIM IN THEM FOREVER. YOUR VOICE IS AS SMOOTH AS SILK AND I LOVE THE WAY YOU MOVE. YOU SEEM AMAZING IN EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR BEING.__JE __CROIS QUE JE__T'AIME,__MEME SI VOUS NE ME CONNAISSEZ PAS._ [1]

Roxas stared at the screen, confused as shit. Who in the world would send him a message like this, though he didn't speak French he could pick out some of the words that he remembered Sora saying Riku taught him, he'd have to ask Riku to translate for him later. He pushed the lock button on the top of his phone and stared out onto the field of the school, watching the gym students play soccer. He saw a small fluff of red and immediately perked up. He felt his phone vibrate again and he pulled it out of his pocket quickly. He let out an agitated sigh and rolled his eyes as he read the message.

_HEY BROTHER OF MINE! WE'RE REALLY SORRY ABOUT EARLIER TODAY! ME AND VENTUS ARE GOING TO YOUR HOUSE TONIGHT AND WE'RE BRINGING RIKU AND VANITAS! SEE YOU TONIGHT OR AFTERSCHOOL WHICH EVER! :D_

Roxas smiled a bit and nodded his head to no one in particular but quickly sent a short reply of 'see you tonight.' When he turned his head back up to the field, the fluff of red had disappeared and he let out a sad sigh. Roxas' ear perked up when he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening and he quickly hid behind the raised up window place, peeking out slightly so he could see who was coming. He heard the sound of boots connecting with the concrete ground of the roof and jumped slightly when a backpack was thrown over the top and landed only a few feet away from his space. He heard someone ascending the ladder and stared at the ladder for a good minute. There standing in all of his lanky and perfect form, stood none other than Axel Vasquez. (Roxas had learned his last name by reading the bottom of his painting in Art.) He saw Axel heading his way and squeaked slightly as he moved out of sight and hid himself as the other boy came to grab his bag. Suddenly the smell of tobacco entered Roxas' airways and his breathed hitched, just the smell of a cigarette made Roxas feel alive and happy. He let out a soft sigh and rested his head back against the bricks.

"So what are you doing up here, newbie?" Roxas jolted from his thoughts, wide-eyed when he heard Axel's voice addressing him. He turned and peeked out looking at Axel's profile view of him smoking his cigarette away.

"I was getting a bit irritated with one my brothers earlier and needed a breather. If you want me to leave, I will." He said as he started to stand but suddenly felt a hand on his wrist pulling him back down.

"No it's fine, we're supposed to hang out today anyways, right?" He asked, jade eyes staring back into cerulean ones. Roxas couldn't muster any words and just nodded his head, swallowing a lump in his throat. He stared at Axel for a moment longer before sitting back down and averting his gaze away.

They sat there in a calm silence. Roxas' phone vibrated again and he jumped out of surprise and slowly dug his phone from his pocket.

_YOU ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PERSON IN THE WORLD. I JUST WANT TO TALK TO YOU ALL THE TIME AND LISTEN TO YOUR VOICE UNTIL I DIE FROM THE BEAUTY OF THE SOUND._

Roxas' eyes widened as he read over the message, this person was being overly flattering. He turned his head up and met with jade eyes. Axel was staring from Roxas to his phone and Roxas blushed a bit.

"Can I ask you a question?" Roxas said in a low voice, looking back to the number on the phone. It wasn't set as private so maybe the person wanted him to figure out who they were?

"You just did." Axel said, nonchalantly.

"I mean a serious question. Here, do you recognize this number?" He asked passing his phone to Axel and allowing the other boy to look over the number and message. Axel shrugged and shook his head, giving the phone back to Roxas. Letting out a deep sigh, Roxas sunk down a bit and stared at his feet that were spread out in front of him.

"So, what're we gonna do to hang out today?" Axel said, cutting through Roxas' thinking. Roxas stared at his hands for a moment, biting his lower lip. He totally forgot to plan out what he was going to do with Axel today. He looked forward and sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, going over some ideas.

"We could just, I don't know, hang out. Talk about things and get to know each other." Roxas said with a light shrug. Axel stared at Roxas' face for a moment, a soft look in his eyes as he just sat there taking in all of the other boys features.

"I guess that's what we could do." Axel said with a light shrug. He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time just as the bell rang. He slowly began to stand up, picking up his backpack as well. Roxas saw Axel getting up and decided that he should too. He picked up his bag and began making his way behind Axel to take the ladder down. They both walked down the school hallway, side-by-side which caused everyone they passed to stare in shock and whisper between each other.

"Do you see them? Is that seriously Axel walking with the new kid? Does he even realize that Axel is going to beat him up?" Some girl whispered to a few of her friends. Roxas shifted uneasily under everyone's gaze and stared straight forward, trying to ignore the judging voices and eyes. He looked over to his left at Axel and noticed that the taller boy was glaring at everyone who was saying something bad about him.

"Maybe someone should tell him who he's with? Isn't that what's best, we don't want to see him hurt right?" Some boy said off to the side. The whispers continued to circulate as they got to the first floor and made it to the back of the school in the parking lot. Roxas heard Axel curse under his breath and turned to see the boy running his slender fingers through his red mane of hair as he put a cigarette between his pale lips and light it.

"Are you alright, Axel?" Roxas asked in a quiet voice, concerned about Axel. The rumors around the school really made the redhead seem like a bad guy but he was just actually a regular guy, only with slight problems but doesn't everyone have some kind of problem?

"I'm fine, just fine. Maybe we shouldn't hang out today, obviously people think I'm going to taint you with my evil ways and that I'm going to turn you in a horrible person like me, maybe I might even have you get outrageous tattoos like me!" He said, letting his voice slowly rise higher. Roxas stared at the profile view of Axel face and frowned slightly. All of these things that people say about the redhead must really get to his because from the slight dark bags under the boy's eyes, Roxas could tell that they were beginning to stress him out and it was only the fourth month into a new school year. Couldn't people just let some stuff go?

"No, it's not fine. You shouldn't let what those kids say get to you. Take a stand for yourself and show them who you really are on the inside and I don't know do something to make them believe you're not as bad as you seem." Roxas said with a light smile on his face as he adjusted his bag's strap.

Axel smiled lightly back to Roxas and took one last drag of his cigarette before crushing it under his feet and looking Roxas directly in the eye. Emerald eyes stared back into deep cerulean eyes and immediately became mesmerized in each other. They leaned a bit close to each other, feeling hot breath brush up against their lips as they continued to stare at each other. Roxas' eyes were slowly closing before he snapped they open and looked at Axel who was calmly smiling.

"Thank you for actually trying to get to know me." Axel whispered to Roxas slowly causing Roxas to shudder a bit and nod calmly, knowing that right now he couldn't trust his voice. They back away from each other and began walking to the front of the school so they could walk to where they were going to hang out at. As soon as they came around the corner, all eyes were staring at them and assessing what exactly was going on. Axel's face was completely void of all emotion as he stared at everyone's face and Roxas tried to hold a calm face but he knew he was slightly nervous under all of these eyes. Without realizing it, Roxas grabbed a hold of Axel's hand and squeezing it gently but also not noticing that Axel had squeezed back. Roxas' phone vibrated for the third time today and he slowly grabbed it from his pocket as he calmly read over the message contained inside the small cellular device.

_I WANT TO BE BY YOUR SIDE FOR A LIFETIME. WILL YOU ANSWER ME BACK SO I CAN GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER?_

The message surprised Roxas a bit but he complied with the sender's wish by sending a simple yes. He smiled softly and looked to Axel who still held the same expression but had his phone out near his hip.

They both walked hand in hand, Roxas not realizing that the person he was texting was the person next to him, oblivious to who was on the other end of the number.

"ROXAS! HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" A familiar voice yelled from in front of the two boys and that immediately caused Roxas to tense up and freeze in his spot, also bringing Axel to a complete stop. Axel's grip tightened around Roxas' hand and they stood there staring at the small group near the school gates.

"Is there another way we could take out of here? I don't want to walk past them right now." Roxas said in a low voice, looking to Axel with pleading eyes as the other boy looked around the campus and stared walking in another direction with Roxas trailing behind him. Roxas heard yelling from behind him but he ignored it and continued to follow Axel until they were at least a few blocks away from the school. As the two continued to walk, they began to notice that the whole time; they were holding hands with each other in front of the whole student body at Radiant Gardens High School. Roxas thought about pulling his hand away for a moment but when he noticed that Axel wasn't making a move to pull apart from him, Roxas didn't make a move to either.

"Do you know where were going?" Axel voice cut into the calm silence that they had put around themselves. Roxas looked around the area for a moment before spotting a park just down the street from where they were. Roxas looked to Axel and nodded his head, walking in front of the redhead as he made his way into the park's entrance. He walked them a go ways in and sat on a nearby bench, Roxas sitting first and sitting on the seat in and Indian-style manner. When Axel sat next to him, Roxas blushed a bit because the redhead moved and laid his head on Roxas' lap, closing his emerald eyes.

"You don't mind if I just rest my head here, right? It's been a pretty stressful day." Axel asked.

"No, I don't mind. Do you wanna talk about your day? I hear that it's good to tell your feelings to someone instead of keeping them bottled inside." Roxas said, absentmindedly running his fingers through Axel's surprisingly soft hair. A soft noise came from Axel's mouth as he made a sound of comfort and leaned into Roxas' fingers a bit.

"It was just; I don't know how to explain it. Everyone at school is always on my fucking case about everything. I never get a break and sometimes I wish I could just stay in my house all day and play video games like everyone else does but there is always some kind of problem I have to deal with that gets in the way of my personal time." Axel heaved a sigh and placed one hand on his stomach. Roxas watched Axel's stomach rise and fall for a minute feeling quite relaxed and comfortable with Axel even though they just met.

"Are the rumors around school true? Are you in a gang or doing something that you really shouldn't?" Roxas asked softly watching Axel's features sort of turn to hurt but quickly change back to normal. The redhead opened his eyes and looked into the others.

"Do you think they're true?" He asked, waiting for the Blonde's answer.

"Not really, unless I hear it from the source or I am there to witness it myself, I usually don't believe some of the stuff people say." The Blonde said casually. Axel smiled lightly at Roxas and nodded his head.

"I like you, Roxas. You're cool in my book. Anyways about the rumors, they aren't completely true, I'm not in a gang I'm actually in a band but that doesn't mean I don't do some pretty shady shit." Axel said, closing his eyes once more and enjoying the feeling of Roxas gliding his fingers through the redhead's hair.

"Wow that's really cool, I can't really play anything besides the piano but I mean, it's better than nothing and I can also draw pretty well so I've got some good artistic things in me." Roxas said with a smile as he leaned back on the bench a little. Just as Axel was about to say something, a woman who looked as if she was going to burst walked in front of the two boys. She had a little girl with her and four bags on her right arm and the girl jumped rapidly.

"Mommy come on! I wanna go see Daddy now!" The little girl said, tugging the mother's sleeve a bit. The woman looked extremely exhausted and in need of a few minutes rest.

"Calm down sweetheart, we'll get home soon. Mommy just needs a bit of a breather okay?" Roxas looked at their current position and shook his leg a bit causing Axel to look at him and nod, understanding what the other boy was saying just by simple gestures.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. If you need to sit, you can sit here, me and my friend were about to leave so just sit for a minute, we wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Axel said in the smoothest and calmest voice ever. Roxas felt he was smiling brightly at the redhead as he helped the woman sit down and placed her bags nicely next to her.

"Thank you, so much. I really needed to sit for a moment." The woman said, smiling brightly and nodding her head in thanks.

"It's no problem. Now little girl, do you think you could calm down a bit and let your mother rest a moment before you go home to see Daddy?" Axel asked the little girl who was smiling at the redhead and she nodded her head vigorously.

"Sure I can, Mister. I'll be good!" She said, going to Axel and giving him a hug around his leg. The redhead laughed a bit and bent down, patting the girl on her back.

"Now make sure your Mommy gets home safe and stay close. See, your mom has a little brother or sister sitting in her tummy oven so you gotta make sure mom stays in tip-top shape, alright? Help her out and show her that you'll be a great sister one day." Axel said with a smile as he hugged the girl one last time. The little girl smiled and ran over to her mother, giving her a large hug and waving the two boys off.

"That was awfully cute of you, Axel." Roxas said, holding Axel's hand once more as they walked down a dirt path through the park. Axel shrugged his shoulders and spoke.

"It was nothing really, I remember being just like her when I was younger, always jumping around to get home and see my mom's boyfriend or see my favorite show. She was pregnant with Kairi and I can remember acting just like that whenever my mom would slow up and become tired." Axel said calmly, eyes never leaving from in front of him.

"Kairi's your sister? I didn't know that." Roxas said, scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"Well I guess the round-up gang didn't want you knowing one of their kind was the sister of the devil spawn, I also have an older brother Reno, he's a real nut case and I can't believe I'm related to him." Axel said with a slight chuckled at the end which caused Roxas in turn to laugh a bit on the side.

"Well you know who my family members are. Sora and Ventus are great siblings but sometimes they can be a bit overwhelming and unpredictable." Roxas said, looking at their surrounds. The sun was just beginning to set and it was only 4:30, they should be heading back home soon because Roxas had Sora and Ven coming for dinner tonight. Then, Roxas had an idea spark up and he stopped to look up at Axel.

"Um, do you think that, uh, maybe you'd want to come to my house for dinner tonight?" Roxas asked, shyly turning his eyes down and looking at shoes. He felt a tap on his chin and he looked back up to meet a piercing jade-eyed gaze.

"Sure, I would love too. I have nothing better to do today anyways besides yell at my siblings." Axel said with a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. Roxas smile in return and dove into give Axel a small hug.

"I can tell were going to be great friends." _Maybe even something more_, Roxas thought. They began walking in the direction of Roxas' house, hands around each other's waist like best friends when it's only been a few hours that they've know each other. By the time they reached the house, Roxas already knew a few things about his new redheaded companion. One, he really like the color purple and old song from the 90s and the 2000s; two, he played the guitar, the drums, and the clarinet; three, his room color was pink because of a color mishap but it was covered with posters so you could barely tell what color the walls were; and four, he had six tattoos excluding the ones under his eyes which Roxas was really fond of.

"Well here we are, casa de Roxas. I know it looks big but trust me, it really isn't." Roxas said as he pulled his keys from his pocket and began to unlock the door, pushing it open.

"Dad! Zack! I'm home!" Roxas called out, throwing his keys into a key bowl left of the door and dropping his bag next to the table that was there as well as taking off his shoes. Axel followed Roxas' lead and dropped his bag down and kicking his shoes off. The floor was a nice white linoleum color. The walls were a dark beige-ish color and there were three family pictures hanging on the wall and a door under the stairs that seemed to lead to a basement. Axel took in all of the surroundings of Roxas' house and thought it seemed like the perfect home for Roxas to live in and it was just as he expected. The two boys walked into the kitchen and saw an ebony haired man cooking food. Roxas sat the island table and Axel took a seat next to him as well.

"Hey Zack, whatcha cookin'?" Roxas asked sweetly which caused the older man to jump up slightly and turn around quickly. "Oh damn! Jesus Roxas you scared the crap outta me!" The man said, holding a hand to his chest.

"Sorry, hey but where's dad?" Roxas asked titling his head to the side a bit.

"He said he was working late tonight and wasn't going to be home on time for dinner and to just leave him a plate in the fridge. Who's your friend?" Zack said, turning back around to his food and looking over his shoulder at Axel.

"Oh, this is Axel! He's a friend from school and Axel this is my dad's boyfriend, Zack." Roxas said pointing to Zack turned back. "It's nice to meet you, Axel. Sorry I can't really shake your hand right now; it seems to be caught up in something." Zack said, turning around with his hand stuffed into the bottom of a chicken causing Roxas to let out an unattractive snort, he shook his head.

"It's nice to meet you too, Sir." Axel said calmly. Roxas looked at Axel and smiled before getting up and walking to the fridge. He grabbed two sprites and waved his hand for Axel to follow him.

"We're gonna be in my room, Zack so just call us when everyone else gets here." Roxas said, earning a quick okay from the chef. The two teens climbed the stairs and got to where the string was hanging from the ceiling was. Roxas turned and placed the sodas in Axel's hand as he grabbed the string and began pulling down the ladder to his bedroom. Once he got it down he grabbed the sodas and nudged Axel to go up the ladder first which he did. As Axel was going up, Roxas couldn't help staring at his butt and ever so feminine hips. He smiled to himself as he got up to his room he let his features go straight and he handed a soda off to Axel. Roxas set his soda down on his nightstand and plopped down onto his bed.

"Who else is coming here besides me?" Axel asked, his voice sounding a bit worried and his eyebrows furrowing.

"Oh that's right I didn't tell you. It was supposed to be just us and then Sora and Ventus but they decided it would be a good idea to bring dates of people I don't even know." Roxas said, letting out a short sigh. "They're bringing Vanitas and Riku, which I don't really mind but I mean this is supposed to be a family thing and they're gonna kinda ruin the family in it."

"So does that mean I have to leave when dinner is ready?" Axel joked.

"Of course not, your already welcomed here if Zack didn't try to interrogate you. One of my friends from Twilight Town got pretty scared when Zack asked him a whole shit ton of questions but since he didn't ask you, he must think you're okay." Roxas said, sitting up and crossing his legs. He pointed to a seat and patted a space on his bed so that Axel could sit down instead of just standing awkwardly.

"So is there anything you want to talk about? Do you wanna play a question game?" Roxas asked as Axel came and lay on his bed. Roxas leaned back and laid his head on Axel's stomach, even though they just met, Roxas felt like he's known Axel for a whole lifetime.

"We could play twenty questions, I guess. We'll alternate who goes first." Axel suggested.

"Alright, then I'll go first. What's your whole name?" Roxas asked.

"Axel Felix Vasquez. What's yours?"

"Roxas Peter Strife. What's your favorite video game?"

"The new Call of Duty: Black Ops. What's yours?"

"Same and Epic Mickey, that game is just too fun. Who are your closest friends?"

"Marluxia, Demyx, and my brother. What's your favorite color?"

"Orange. What's your sexual orientation?"

"I don't have one. It's either I like you or I don't, simple as that. What's yours?"

"I-I don't know exactly. I've never really been with either so I can't really decipher who I prefer better. Do-"Before he could finish, they were being called down for dinner and could already hear Sora and the other coming through the door and into the house. As Roxas got up to go downstairs, he was pulled back down by Axel and they lay in the same position again but this time they looked at each other.

"I don't know if I wanna go down there, I mean your brothers already hate me for having a bad rep and what would he think if he knew I was coming out of your room?" Axel said. Roxas bit his lower lip and shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't listen to what they say if they want to believe silly rumors then let them." Roxas said, getting up again and grabbing Axel's hand and the walked down the ladder with their hands together and made their way into the dining room.

"HI ROX- What is he doing here?" Sora said, his voice getting dangerously low. He glared at Axel and Ven just stared, not saying a word.

"Is there a problem?" Zack said as he began to set the food out and placing utensils and pates in each spot on the table.

"Nope, I don't there is any kind of problem going on here." Roxas said with a shrug of his shoulders.

From then on, nobody really spoke unless you count the slight meaningless chatter of Zack getting to know Axel a bit and then going silent and Roxas picking up a conversation with him. Riku and Vanitas seemed a bit tense, like they both really needed to punch something and Ventus just seemed shocked the whole time he ate but the worst person at the table had to be Sora because the chocolate-haired boy could not stop glaring daggers at Axel, it sort of seemed like he was burning holes in the redhead's face. When dinner was over, Sora decided not to stay any longer than ten minutes after dinner and went home early with Riku right by his side. An hour later Ventus and Vanitas left without so much as a word to the two boys who were chatting up a storm together. When everyone was gone and everything was cleaned up, Roxas and Axel went back to Roxas' room and continued their little game of twenty questions until it was about 11:30, in which Axel had to take his leave home. There was a brief moment at the door where they had almost kissed again like earlier that day but brushed it off to the side as accidentally getting too close to one another when trying to go for a hug. When Roxas got back to his room, his phone vibrated and he jumped onto his mattress, reaching over to the nightstand and reading the message from his mysterious texter.

_I LOVE THE WAY YOU MOVE THE HAIRS OUT OF YOUR FACE AND THE BLUSH THAT TENDS TO STAIN YOU CHEEKS WHEN ONE IS GIVING YOU KIND COMPLIMENTS. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU AND I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE._

Roxas smiled happily and began to reply the text, which turned into 100 replies and a goodnight message.

* * *

**A/N:** _END OF CHAPTER IV_

_I hope you enjoyed it! I'm about halfway through the next chapter so expect that sometime this week. I do have practice for fencing some days so if it's late, then you know why._

_Review because they make me smile (:_

_Thank you to those who reviewed already, I love hearing your responses to these chapters!_

_[1] "I think I love you, even though you don't know me."  
_


	5. Chapter V

**A/N:**_ Here is your newest chapter guys! Thanks for reading and leaving some wicked nice reviews on the story( 11 reviews, OMG!)! I look forward to writing more and hearing what else you'll have to say in chapters to come. The next one may or may not be out for a while, since it's my Christmas break and I have family to see and I also have fencing practice a lot. I will try super hard to get the next one out but for now, enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter V: Maybe I've fallen**

Over the next four weeks, Roxas and Axel spent every lunch and afternoon together and every night Roxas would text his mysterious lover but could not seem to fully return the affection fully because he didn't know who they were. Roxas got to know Axel a bit more but still didn't know too much detail about Axel's life when they weren't together. Rumors around school went around that Axel and Roxas were supposedly together but the two boys just ignored it because they knew the truth and that was all that mattered. Today though, Axel was running a bit late at lunch time. The two decided to meet on the roof, like they usually did, but Axel was about fifteen minutes late and Roxas was worried that someone did something to make Axel not want to come.

Suddenly a slam was heard, followed by a low mumble of a curse. Roxas jumped slightly and walked over to the ladder and looked over the edge to see a struggling redhead. He had a large bag slung over his back and was trying to untangle himself from the door that caught onto the strap of his bag.

"Having a hard time there, buddy?" Roxas said with a light chuckle. Axel let out a short grumble and cut a glance at Roxas. The blonde smiled at his struggling friend and made his way down the ladder to help. He walked up to the door and started to untangle the many straps that were stuck on the handle of the door. Finally the redhead was detached from the door and Roxas placed his hands on his hips.

"What's in the bag, Axel?" Roxas asked following Axel back up the ladder.

"It's a surprise I have for you." He said, sitting in a cross-legged position against the brick wall. The redhead began to unzip the larger pocket of his large bag and slowly revealed a guitar. He pulled a small black pick from his pocket and tuned the guitar slightly.

"Are you going to play me a song or something?" Roxas walked next to Axel and sat next to him, letting his legs lay out in front of him.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do." Axel's fingers slowly began to play out the beat of the song and Roxas leaned his head back against the brick wall, closing his eyes and letting Axel's soothing voice whisk him away as he began to sing.

_Come with me._

_We took a back road._  
_We're gonna look at the stars._  
_We took a backroad in my car._  
_Down to the ocean,_  
_it's only water and sand_  
_And in the ocean we'll hold hands._

_But I don't really like you, apologetically dressed in the best, but on a heartbeat glide._

_Without an answer, the thunder speaks for the sky, and on the cold, wet dirt I cry._  
_And on the cold, wet dirt I cry._

_Don't you wanna come with me? Don't you wanna feel my bones_  
_on your bones?_  
_It's only natural._

_A cinematic vision ensued_  
_like the holiest dream._  
_It's someone's calling?_  
_An angel whispers my name,_  
_but the message relayed is the same:_  
_"Wait till tomorrow,_  
_you'll be fine."_  
_But it's gone to the dogs in my mind._  
_I always hear them_  
_when the dead of night_  
_comes calling to save me from this fight._  
_But they can never wrong this right._

_Don't you wanna come with me? Don't you wanna feel my bones_  
_on your bones?_  
_It's only natural._  
_Don't you wanna swim with me? Don't you wanna feel my skin_  
_on your skin?_  
_It's only natural._

_(Never had a lover)_  
_I never had a lover_  
_(Never had soul)_  
_I never had soul_  
_(Never had a good time)_  
_And I never had a good time_  
_(Never got cold)_  
_I never got gold._

_Don't you wanna come with me? Don't you wanna feel my bones_  
_on your bones?_  
_It's only natural._  
_Don't you wanna swim with me? Don't you wanna feel my skin_  
_on your skin?_  
_It's only natural._  
_Don't you wanna come with me? Don't you wanna feel my bones_  
_on your bones?_  
_It's only natural._  
_Come and take a swim with me. Don't you wanna feel my skin_  
_on your skin?_  
_It's only natural_

Roxas smiled happily at Axel when he stopped singing and clapped. Roxas bounced happily and clapped vigorously. Axel's singing was great and he loved the way his voice sounded so emotional when he sung words to different songs. Axel let a smile grace his features as he and Roxas stared at each other for a moment.

"That was really nice! Did you write that for someone? It was a really beautiful song." Roxas said happily, watching Axel tune his guitar some more.

"I didn't write it myself, it's by a band called the Killers and I sung it to someone special to me." Axel said, in a calm voice. Roxas stared at Axel for a moment contemplating who he had sung this song to; secretly Roxas hoped that it was him instead of whoever the other person was.

"O-oh really, who was the lucky person, was it anyone I know?" Roxas asked, fidgeting in his spot and twiddling his thumbs, staring at his lap.

"I guess you could say that." Axel shrugged and continued strumming away on the strings of his acoustic guitar.

_Oh great, now I have competition. Maybe I should just tell him what I think_. Roxas thought to himself as he pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was about twenty minutes before lunch ended and they would have to walk to class together. Roxas had found out a while ago that Axel was in almost all of his classes except for Latin and Honors Geometry III. Roxas bit his lower lip and looked over to Axel who was beginning to put his things away so it wouldn't be rushed later.

"Hey Ax, can I ask you a question?" Roxas asked, nervously.

"Go ahead."

"Is there a-anyone here t-that y-you um, like?" He stuttered a bit and a blush dusted across his cheeks as he stared at his shoelaces which had become unbearably interesting. Axel noticed that Roxas looked a bit nervous and laughed a bit before deciding to answer Roxas' question, it couldn't hurt to give him a hint and sorta mess with him a bit.

"Well, if you must know, I do." Axel said with a light shrug and a calm smile on his face.

"Really who?" The Blonde asked.

"Well he's got these eyes that are just, wow and this hair that's just amazing. I also notice that he always tends to blush when we accidentally brush against each other or when I give him complements but that just makes him all the more amazing." Now that got Roxas' attention. His blood boiled at the sound of how wonderful Axel thought this person was and he wanted to push them out of the way so that he could take that place in Axel's mind. What he didn't know was that Axel was actually talking about him and giving enough information for the Blonde to guess but being the oblivious teen he is and being angry just a tad, he didn't have time take in all the details. Axel noticed that Roxas' features changed slightly when he talked about the way he thought of the blonde and he smirked to himself. He reached his hand over and ruffled up Roxas' spikes, smiling brightly at the boy, maybe now was a good time to confess. Just as Axel was about to say something, the bell could be heard ringing from inside the building and he sighed.

"Come on Axel, we should go now." Roxas said, his voice almost coming out in a growl. Axel quite liked the way that sounded as he picked up his things, heading to the ladder and jumping down and walking into the building with Roxas following closely behind.

As they walked through the halls, Roxas was fuming slightly behind Axel and glared at his own feet as he walked towards class. Suddenly he bumped into Axel back rather harshly and looked up with wide eyes as he saw a figure at the end of the hallway just standing there, menacingly. Axel slowly began to back up and froze up again when that figure turned around to stare at them.

"YOU! BOY, DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO RUN AWAY FROM ME! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU ALL OVER THE PLACE YOU FILTHY PIECE OF SHIT! I WAS ALMOST THROWN IN JAIL CAUSE OF YOUR DUMBASS!" The mysterious man shouted from the end of the hall. They were at the deserted end of the school because that was the only way they could get to their next class and the hall was empty now meaning it was just Axel, Roxas, and the mysterious man at the end of the hallway. The redhead tense up and began to back up causing Roxas to move as well, trying to get further away from the man.

"DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO RUN AWAY FROM YOU BLASTED REDHEAD! CONFRONT ME NOW OR YOU'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE LOSS OF THAT FRIEND YOU'RE TRYING TO HIDE!" The man's booming voice ricochets off of the lockers causing Roxas to jump slightly.

"Roxas, go get somebody, anybody." Axel said, throwing a pleading look over his shoulder at Roxas and quickly looked back to the person just a few long steps away from them. Roxas was a bit hesitant but he gave a quiet okay and turned around, running to the nearest classroom. Meanwhile, Axel had to face his worst enemy at the worst moment possible. His day was going just fine and this fucking guy just had to show up and ruin it all. This man was a man from Axel's past, his nightmare, this was his uncle. The reason he was here now was probably because he just got off of probation and found out where Axel and his family now resided.

"You little fucker, thought you could run away from your dearest uncle huh? Not even your mother could get away from me!" His uncle threw his head back in laughter and Axel tightened his hands up into fists, growling lowly as his uncle came closer.

"You know, if I didn't already bribe the judge, I could have gone to jail way back when. Now I'm here looking at your ugly ass face so I can teach you a lesson when someone tries to get me booked into jail. You know, you were way more appealing when you were six, god you were such a good lay I don't think I could have ever gotten it out of my mind. Those screams always turned me on." His uncle said, chuckling softly, inching closer and closer to Axel. The redhead made sure to keep an eye on his surroundings and keep his guard up so that he knew what was going to happen. Suddenly, the man got intensely close to Axel and stared to get in the redhead's face, spitting out harsh words.

"If I was you, scrawny fucker, I'd back down now and just let me do what I came here to do. Maybe your mother wouldn't be a hopeless case right now if you had just stayed out of the way and took everything calmly and without a fight." His uncle said with venom dripping from his words as he stared Axel in the eye.

"I'm going to kill you and the rest of your damned family. You wanna know who goes first? Your little precious sister Kairi, you will all have to watch each other die slowly and painfully." His uncle said in a dangerously low voice as he stood closer to Axel, making sure he towered over the redhead just a bit.

Just then Axel chose that it was a good time to act. He raised his knee and brought it forcefully into his uncle's abdomen. The man wretched forward a bit and fell to his knees, coughing and turning his head sharply up to the boy who was now towering over him. Axel brought his foot up and brought it down harshly onto the man's face which caused the man's nose to make a harsh cracking noise and for him to let out a blood curdling shriek. Blood was pouring out of the man's hand as he was trying to get up, his nose was definitely broken and Axel smirked at the man who threatened him.

"Y-YOU FUCKING BITCH! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME! I'LL BE SURE TO KILL YOU NOW!" His uncle shouted as he pulled a knife from his back pocket and opened it up, letting his hand drop from his nose to run at Axel, full speed. Axel could faintly hear footsteps thundering from the halls behind him and he smirked, dropping into his fighting stance.

The knife was coming closer to Axel and when it finally came close enough, he dodged each attack accept for the few. He got a small slash on his face and a few on his bare arms since he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

"STOP!" Axel heard that familiar voice behind him shout and he let his guard down for a minute just as his uncle tackled him to the ground, catching Axel's attention again.

"How's about I kill you right in front of your little boyfriend and all these people that are about to come and find a lifeless whore on the ground." His uncle said, spitting out each word. Axel held the wrist that the knife was in trying to keep it as far away from his neck as possibly so he wouldn't get cut. Suddenly his uncle was tackled off of him by, who he noticed, the gym teacher who had been in the military in previous years. The silver haired teacher, Sephiroth, punched his uncle in the face and slowly got up off the floor while putting the knife in his pocket and dragging the man away from the school and out the back doors. There was a huge crowd surrounding the other end of the hallway as Sephiroth walked away from the students and each one was staring at Axel as he lay silently on the floor.

"Axel! Hey move out of my way-that's my friend! Axel, are you alright?! Get out of my fucking way, dammit!" The redhead heard Roxas shout. He smiled to himself and stared at the tiled ceiling as he waited for his blonde friend to come and make him feel better. It would be a lie if Axel had said he wasn't shaken up by the whole situation but at least now he knew that his uncle was definitely going to jail for good this time. He suddenly felt light weight on his body and looked to see a fluff of blonde hair in his view.

"I'm glad I came when I did because I don't what I'd do if you had been killed." Roxas said, letting a tear fall, in a low voice because he knew that there were still people watching them but if that were the case then maybe Roxas shouldn't be straddling his waist. Axel put his arm loosely around the petite blonde's waist as the boy on top of him hunched over a bit and places his forehead on the redhead's chest. Axel could hear the soft murmurs of the students around them as they watched the whole scene play out. The bell rang overhead and now he came the worst part, rumors. Since people saw Axel and Roxas in such a position, there was sure to be talk going around the school now about Axel and Roxas secretly being together. Axel slowly began to stand up, still with Roxas on top of him, the blonde wrapped his legs around Axel's thin waist as the redhead went and retrieved his bags, dragging them aimlessly behind him as he carried the blonde throughout the hallways, ignoring the whispers and even some cat calls that were thrown at them. Axel made his way to the stairwell that would lead to the roof area that the two of them would usually go to. Since it was now the last period of day and they wasted one period, why not just skip the rest of the day? They had the excuse of what happened so it was okay. Roxas let out a slight cough and sniffle before looking up at Axel's face the redhead pushed the roof door open and put the brick in between so they wouldn't be locked out. The redhead gently let Roxas down and placed his bags by the door before going to climb up the ladder. Once up on the final roof level, Axel sat down Indian-style and Roxas laid his head in between Axel's legs, letting the redhead aimlessly run his slender finger through the mussed blonde spikes.

"Who was that guy, Ax?" Roxas asked as he looked up to Axel, noticing that the other boy was looking elsewhere. A breeze rolled over the two and brushed their hair around in the cool December air.

"That was my uncle, or should I say, ex-Uncle. My family has a bad history with him and I don't know how he found us, we were hidden from him for about twelve years." Axel said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of Newport's and a lighter. He brought a cigarette and lit it, blowing out the harsh tobacco smoke. Roxas inhaled sharply as the smell of cigarettes filled his nasal passages and he reveled in the scent.

"What happened? Why was he so determined to get you?" Roxas asked slowly, seeing if Axel would actually tell him. The redhead blew another cloud of smoke and sighed heavily.

"I was six and he was about 25, it was a normal day and I was only a kid."

_12 years in the past_

"_C'mon Uncle, you said you'd take me to the park today!" A younger redhead boy shouted at his uncle as they sat in the living room. The redhead's uncle had promised if he won at least on game of Uno that he would take the boy out to the park. It was mid-day, noon, that Axel had finally won the game and was bouncing happily, badgering his uncle about going to the park._

"_Fine, we'll go now then. Go and get ready so that we can go." His uncle said with a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. The redhead smiled brightly and dashed up the stairs to his room, pulling on clothes and shoes as quickly as possible._

_The walk to the park wasn't a long one and once the two of them got there, it was immediately play time for the six-year-old redhead._

"_Axel do not stray too far! Make sure I can see you!" His uncle shouted as the redhead ran to go play on the swings. His uncle went and sat on a nearby bench as he watched his nephew play on the swings and make new friends with other kids. Suddenly the man's phone rang and he groaned, fishing the small device from his pocket._

"_Hello?" He asked, looking at his shoes._

"_WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU TAKE MY SON?! BRING HIM HOME NOW; I DON'T KNOW WHY HIS FATHER TRUSTED YOU TO TAKE HIM OUT! I WANT MY SON!" A woman on the other line shouted as the man on the receiving end smirked._

"_Sorry, no can do sis-in-law but I have strict orders to do whatever the fuck I want to this bastard child." The man said, laughing slightly into the phone._

"_YOU FUCKING BASTARD! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BABY OR I WILL PERSONALLY HUNT YOU DOWN AND CASTRATE YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Suddenly there was a painful shriek on the woman's end of the line and a clatter could be heard. The man smirked as he heard the phone being picked up again._

"_You know what to do right?" Another man's voice said through the phone._

"_Hell yeah I do. I'll call you back when it's all done." The uncle said as he heard and 'okay' and hung up._

_The two of them were at the park for about another hour before the redhead's uncle decided it was time to go back. Once back in the safety of the man's apartment, the man decided it was time to get to work. He let his nephew rest a while on the couch as sat next to the redhead and kept taking glances at the petite face of the six year-old. It was now 4:30 p.m. and the uncle was ready to get things going. He watched the boy closely as the redhead watched a silly TV show and brought his large hand over to caress the flawless skin. The boy flinched and looked at his uncle with deep emerald eyes that had fear embedded in them. His uncle smiled and continued to touch the boy's face. The redhead began to squirm under the touch and shifted away from the hands._

"_Uncle, what're you doing? I don't like you touching me like that." The boy said shrinking in the couch as his uncle got unbelievably close to him._

"_I'm only treating you nicely." His uncle said. The redhead shrank away even more as his uncle began to touch him even more, making the boy unbearably uncomfortable._

_Later that night, there could be screams heard erupting from the young boy's throat as he cried his eyes out until there were no more tears shed and he was covered in a sticky white substance that he wanted to rid himself of. His uncle had touched him in a way he never wanted to be touched ever again in his whole life. That was a night that Axel realized that he was no longer allowed to be oblivious to the world._

"Axel…" Roxas began but was stopped by Axel when the redhead raised his hand up.

"Don't say sorry because it won't mean anything to me. That was twelve years ago and I've gotten over that part of my life, although I will never forgive and forget, I will move on with my life and be happy and find someone who can also be happy with me." Axel said, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it.

Roxas felt a slight stinging in his eyes and realized that he was staring to cry. He sniffled a bit and then turned around to wrap his arms around Axel's neck, pulling him into a sweet embrace. The redhead was frozen for a moment but the pulled his cigarette out, crushing it, and wrapping his arms around the blonde's small frame. He heard Roxas let out a small choked sob and ran his slender hand up and down the teens back. Roxas was crying for him even though it was in his past.

"Please don't cry for me, Roxas. I've gotten over it, if I wasn't then I wouldn't have told you." The redhead said as he ran his fingers through Roxas' hair. The blonde shifted, placing his face in the nape of Axel's neck and looking up at the other teen.

"I'm still sorry that happened to you. You were so young and you didn't deserve something so harsh." Roxas said in a low voice as sniffled again and buried his face in the space between Axel's neck and shoulder.

"Can I confess something to you, Roxas?" Axel said quietly. Roxas looked at Axel again and bright cerulean eyes stared into deep cat-like emerald.

"I think I may be in love with you."

* * *

**A/N:**_ END OF CHAPTER V._

_ WELL DAMN! That was actually a pretty bad chapter for me. I had the idea all set up in my head and then when I was writing it I kinda fell and couldn't write in a lot of juicy details. I hope you guys enjoyed this one and look out for the next one in the next two weeks._

_Please review and tell me watcha think! I love hearing feedback on how this story is going!_


	6. Chapter VI

**Chapter VI: Something New**

"_I think I may be in love with you."_

That same nine word sentence played over again and again in Roxas' mind and his voice could not fathom up and type of response to that state and Roxas did the only thing he could in that one moment.

He kissed the redhead.

In the heat of the moment Roxas thought this was a great idea but he soon realized that he was now straddling the waist of a teenage boy he had only just met a little under a month ago. Roxas still barely knew anything about Axel's home life but here he was letting Axel's hands go underneath his shirt and he wasn't even the least bit scared of how far this could escalate. Roxas did indeed feel the same way about Axel even since the first day he heard the redhead's name. First is was out of curiosity but when the real thing was finally placed in front of him, he just couldn't but fall in love a little bit. Roxas pulled away from Axel and stared into his intense emerald eyes that were slightly hazed over with lust.

"I think I may love you too, Axel." Roxas said shyly, placing his head in the crevice of Axel neck and inhaling his tobacco scent.

"I'm so happy to hear that. Ever since we met, I just couldn't get you out of my mind. There's also something else I want to tell you." Roxas looked up from his spot and stared into Axel's eyes, silently saying to go on.

"Can I see your phone for a moment?" The redhead asked sticking out his left hand and reaching into his pocket with the right. Roxas hesitantly pulled out his phone and tapped in the passcode before handing it over to Axel. Axel smiled at Roxas softly and looked from his phone to Roxas' before turning them both towards Roxas so the blonde could see the screen. Roxas' eyes widened as he started at the screen of the two phones. There, as clear as day, was a new text message from his mystery texter who had been Axel all along. Roxas soon realized that he knew a lot more about Axel than he thought and that the redhead knew a lot more about him than he knew. He also realized something else.

Axel's home life was pretty bad when he thought back on the texts they had shared.

"Oh Axel…." Roxas trailed on but was cut short by Axel's hand being put in his face.

"I've told you things I never even had the guts to tell one of my closest friends and that's even a bit of a stretch because my only close friend was my pet hamster who died when I was 16." Axel said with a slight smile adorning his features. Roxas laughed a little under his breath and looked into Axel's eyes. They looked like emerald flames that showed caring, loving, and kindness. Roxas only wished that people could see this side of Axel instead of having to see the wall he puts up.

"Axel I'm so happy you trusted me even though you didn't really know me and you still don't. I've actually had feelings for you for a long time and now that I know you were my mysterious texter it just makes me love you a lot more." At these words, Axel took Roxas' face in his hands and stared into the deep cerulean eyes. The redhead proceeded to dive in and capture Roxas' lips in a sweet but yet intense kiss. They continued like that for a while and finally broke apart when the need for air became too great.

Deep cerulean stared into flaming emeralds.

A small smile made itself onto Roxas' lips and the blond finally realized that this was what it's like to be truly happy with someone special to you.

_Meanwhile_

Sora and Ventus had been searching around the school for nearly twenty minutes after hearing about the whole commotion in the west wing of the school. People said there was a man there that had come and attacked Axel while Roxas was with him. Classes were on hold for the time being so the police could investigate on situation at hand. Since then Ventus and Sora have looking all over for their brother but they already heard who he was with. People have been spreading the rumors of Axel and Roxas going out like they were spreading AIDs. Sora had seen the two of them on various occasions talking like they had been best friends but it was always Roxas doing most of the talking and Axel would just nod and only a small smile would ever be seen on his face. On one end, Sora thought that Axel didn't seem like such a bad guy if he hadn't done anything wrong to Roxas but on the other end, Ventus completely despised the idea of the two being together. For some reason or another, Ventus just seemed to outwardly hate Axel from the pit of his stomach. When Sora would bring up the conversation the only response he would get was to go ask Axel himself. Sora sighed inwardly as they came down another hallway with Ven standing a few feet away from him looking around different corners.

"Ven, can we just go back to class? I'm sure Roxas is okay. I mean since everybody saw it, he's safe right now with Ax-"Ventus whipped around and glared harshly at Sora, which caused the brunet to shrink into himself.

"He isn't safe with that damn redhead! I don't know why you think that he would be okay with him. Do you not remember all those rumors that go around about Axel?! Roxas could be trapped somewhere and it would be Axel's fault." Ventus said, his face getting slightly red from the frustration. Sora looked at his brother like the blond was some kind of kook.

"I don't see what the big deal is! You saw the way Axel carried Roxas off, Roxas didn't even struggle and just held Axel tighter! What is so wrong about them being together?!" Sora shouted at his brother who had turned around and was walking down the hall and the blond stopped.

"What is wrong is Axel having been to jail three times for killing someone and his background is just fucked up and also he has sex with so many people! I don't want to see my brother hurt because of the way Axel lives." Ventus said as he stared into his brother eyes waiting for some kind of comeback to his argument. Sora put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes.

"You realize that one of my best friends since elementary school is his sister and they've been through almost the same thing right?" This caused Ventus to avert his eyes from Sora a take a new interest in his shoes.

"Can you please tell me why you don't think Roxas and Axel could be together?" Sora asked with concern in his voice as he looked at his brother with saddened eyes.

"I don't want to see Roxas get hurt and with the trouble we've been having at home, I don't want mom to say something to Roxas, Cloud, and Zack about the situation because you know she'll find out about this and freak out." Ventus said, he lifted his head and stared at Sora who nodded his head in understanding.

"I understand you're just trying to look out for Roxas but I mean come on, give the kid some space. Have you ever had a really conversation with Axel without trying to kill him at the same time?" Sora said, crossing his arms over his chest, starting to walk down the hall towards the stairwell. Ventus trailed slowly behind him and spoke up.

"Everybody's just got this whole mindset of how bad Axel is and I can't help but fall into that same picture of how bad he is. I don't want to see Roxas hurt because if I do, it won't be a pretty picture." Ventus concluded as they came to the stairwell and began walking up the stairs. As they reached the third floor, Ventus noticed a door at the top of the next set of steps and squinted a bit to see that it was open. The sign next to the door said 'Roof Entrance' and Ven grabbed Sora's wrist. The brunet looked curiously at his brother and let his eyes travel to the door.

"Huh, maybe someone's up there. Do you wanna see who is there?"

"Yeah but let's be quiet just in case it's someone we don't want to see us." Ven said.

"Alright come on." Sora said as he climbed up the next set of stairs and opened the door, Ven following closely behind. Outside now, Sora was looking around the area for anyone but say that there was no one in sight. HE was about to turn and leave when he saw a ladder to the far right of the roof. He walked over to it and could faintly hear people talking. Ven came up behind him and climbed the ladder after him when Sora stopped, barely getting up on the roof.

"Sora, what are you doing? Get up there!" Ventus whispered almost in a low shout.

"Someone talking and it kinda sounds like Roxas and Axel. I wanna hear what they're talking about."

"Sora you know I don't approve of this relationship and now you're going to stand here and listen to it?" Ventus sighed and climbed back down the ladder, sitting down against the brick wall.

Sora leaned up a bit more and listened carefully to the words being spoken.

"I would have never guessed you were the one I was talking to all that time. I didn't know you knew so many different languages!" He heard Roxas say in an excited tone.

"Well it's not a lot, only French, Latin, Spanish, and German. That's only four leaving out English so I don't consider it many but that's only because my mother works for those translator people for when immigrants come to America. I picked up on all the languages she spoke so I've been talking like this for a while." Axel said with a slight chuckle. Roxas smiled happily and laid his head on Axel's shoulder as he let his eyes slowly fall shut.

"Say something to me in another language. But don't say anything mean!" Roxas said, taking Axel's hand and intertwining their fingers.

"Alright. Manibus vestris sunt mollia." He said in a beautiful tone of voice. Roxas shifted so that he was looking at Axel, the blonde's eyes glinting a bit.

"What did that mean?"

"I said your hands were soft." Axel said laughing a bit. Roxas smiled at the redhead's ways and gave him a small kiss.

"I love you, Axel." He said calmly, staring into Axel's emerald eyes.

"I love you too, Roxas." The redhead put his free hand on Roxas' cheek and pulled the blonde in for a kiss.

Sora gasped from his spot and fell back off of the ladder with a small thud. He hoped that his fall wouldn't ruin the moment for Axel and Roxas and he scrambled to get up and he ran over to Ventus, pulling his brother by the wrist. The two brothers entered the stairwell and rushed into the empty hallways of the second floor and stopped running once they reached the boy's bathroom. Sora pushed Ventus through the door earning him a harsh curse word thrown his way. Sora pulled Ven into the handicap stall and held the blonde by his shoulders.

"They're dating! Can you believe they are together! I wonder if they'll make it official or maybe they'll start out slow and tell a few people at a time! Maybe I should tell Kairi or Riku, oh Riku would love to tell him about this!" Before Sora could continue talking, Ventus covered the brunette's mouth with his hand.

"What are you talking about, Sora?" Ven said, genuinely confused.

"Roxas and Axel, of course! They were talking on the roof and I listened to some of the cute things they said! It was like reading a cute romance novel." Sora swooned, and put a hand on his chest. Ventus' face changed dramatically and he looked utterly disgusted. Thoughts filled the blonde's head and his eyes grew wide as he walked down the hall.

"T-that can't be. I thought Roxas would know better than to go for someone who has so many rumors circulating about him. I don't want to see him hurt, Sora." Ven said, gripping himself tightly around the waist.

"Hey, don't get worked up. Just watch them and try not to freak out, I'm sure Axel knows what he's doing and I don't think he would have the guts to hurt someone as innocent as Roxas." Sora stated calmly as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Ven shook his head and shrugged off his brother's hand.

"Yeah, let's see how this plays out. If so much as one, just one, suspicious thing happens! I swear to all that is good, I will castrate that redhead." Ven said sternly, pointing his index finger in Sora face. The brunette smiled and laughed a bit, pushing Ven's hand away from his face. The two brothers walked down the hall and stopped when they came across a very crowded hall which was very unusual at this time since it was the middle of class.

"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!" Was the chanting that could be heard from the enormous group of kids in the hallway. All grades were gathered here chanting the same words and watching the fight that was probably going on.

Sora and Ventus exchanged looks before pushing their way into the crowd so they could see who was fighting. In the center of the surrounding crowd was Riku fighting Reno and it seemed to have been a bad one. Riku had a busted lip with let a trail of blood come down his chin and he also had a black eye but Reno looked the worst compared to the silverette. The redhead had a black eye, swollen lip and various cuts on his face and there was a lot of blood dripping from his nose. On the other side of the crowd Sora could see Kairi and Namine yelling at the two boys to stop. Kairi had hysterical tears streaming down her face from her eyes. Sora immediately pulled Ventus' wrist and they made their way over to the two girls.

"What's going on?! Why are they fighting like this?!" Sora asked in a rushed tone. Namine rubbed Kairi's back and turned to the two boys.

"Riku and Reno started arguing about something and then your brother, Roxas, was mentioned and Reno made the first swing on him because Reno said that he needed to keep Roxas away from Axel because and I quote, 'Axel was turning soft and wouldn't do anything fun.'"

"That's so dumb! Why would they fight over something so stupid and-!" Suddenly Sora was pushed by some kid in the crowd and ended up getting knocked into the fight. Before anyone knew it, Reno had mistakenly punched Sora square in the face just as Roxas and Axel emerged in from the crowd. Roxas shouted his brother's name and rushed in towards the fighters.

"YOU IDIOT! What is your problem, man?! You two were probably fighting over some stupid shit and now look what you've done, punching an innocent bystander!" Roxas' face heated up and he looked at his brother with soft eyes as Riku picked him up and took the brunette away.

"People like you need to be taught a lesson." Roxas said before he tackled Reno to the ground. The older redhead hit the ground with a loud thud and Roxas began throwing various punches to the redhead's face before some came and ripped him off of the older boy underneath him. Axel gripped Roxas around the waist as he took the blonde away from the beaten and battered Reno. All Axel did was shake his head at his brother and turned away so that he could walk down the hall. Once out of sight from the crowd, Axel rounded a corner and making sure no one was around. HE put Roxas down and held the boy's shoulders firmly looking into the blonde's eyes.

"Why did you do that? You didn't have to go and punch my brother, he looks like shit already and you just added to his injury!" Axel said, raising his voice slightly. Roxas eyes widened and he remembered that Reno was his brother. Guilt plagued Roxas' mind as he lowered his gaze to his shoes.

"I'm sorry, I was just so upset that he punched my brother and I let instinct take over and I kinda just, I don't know." Roxas, his voice getting lower and tailing off a bit.

Axel heaved a sigh and stared at the tuft of blonde spikes before putting his finger under the blonde's chin and making the boy look him in the eye.

"It's alright; he probably deserved it anyway after all." Axel said in a smooth voice that made Roxas want to just melt like a Popsicle in the sunlight. Axel lowered his face down to Roxas and brought their lips together in a soft kissed before they suddenly broke apart when someone shrieked close by. There stood Olette, a girl in his Geometry class, with her hands covering her mouth as she stared in horror at the end of the hall.

"Roxas! What is this?! You're-You're a-a f-fag?! I can't believe this, were you leading me on the whole time after everything we've been through?!" The brunette girl shouted as she lowered her hands to her sides and formed fists. Roxas' eyes widened in shock and he took a glance towards Axel, whose eyes were narrowed dangerously.

"Olette, I-I have no idea what you're talking about. I talk to you because I think you're a good friend not because I wanted to be with you, I'm sorry if you took it the wrong way, maybe the way I showed my kindness made you think differently." Roxas said quietly but loud enough for the girl to hear him. While he was speaking, Axel had managed to wrap his lanky arm around Roxas' waist in a protective way and the redhead glared harsh daggers at the girl that was only few steps away.

Olette let out another shriek and stomped both of her feet before turning around and walking away. Roxas turned his head and looked towards Axel who was looking at him with soft eyes.

"Please tell me you weren't ever thinking of going out with her right?" Axel said in a low voice. Roxas smiled softly and shook his head.

"I never thought of her as being more than a friend. Since I saw you that first time, I knew that I wanted to be with you." The blonde said, wrapping his arms around Axel's waist, earning the same from the tall redhead.

"Good because I don't think I could hold down my food if you guys were ever together. I would have probably tried to whisk you away." The redhead chuckled and the two released each other.

The bell rung overhead signaling that school was officially over and that everyone could go home. Roxas looked around and quirked his mouth to the side.

"Hey, uh, Axel, if you aren't doing anything today do you maybe want to come to my house and just hang out, I guess?" Roxas said shyly as he looked into those deep green eyes that made him fall deeper in love with the tall redhead.

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do." He said with a shrug. Since he had all his books, Roxas beamed and grabbed Axel's hand, intertwining their fingers as the two of them began to make their way out of the building. Today was the day he was supposed to get his car because the old one broken down a few months back and he wanted Axel to be there to see it.

_Meanwhile_

Sora was out of the infirmary with Riku trying to keep up closely behind. The nurse had to re-adjust his nose and give him special gauze that would keep it in place. The brunette was furious at his boyfriend for being such and idiot and getting into a fight over stupid shit.

"Sora, wait! Please just listen to me." Riku said. Sora halted and turned around tapping his foot impatiently.

"Fine, I'm listening."

"I only got into a fight with Reno because he threw the first punch and I never meant for you to get hurt." He said in a dejected voice. Sora shook his head and continued walking down the hall, Riku's excuse was not going to save him this time and now Sora was going to put on the cold shoulder until he felt it was necessary.

"Riku, I'm tired of hearing excuses out of you! You're always telling me that it's this big thing but it ends up just being some stupid excuse." Sora said with an exasperated sigh. Riku stood there, just staring at Sora who hadn't yelled at him since they were kids.

There is a storm occurring in paradise.

_To Axel and Roxas_

They arrived to the Strife household in no time but they found that the front door was partially opened. Roxas gasped and dropped his bad on the first step to rush inside and see if everything was okay.

It wasn't.

The whole front hallway was ruined. The pictures that lined the walls ever so neatly were not destroyed and throw about the place leaving shattered pieces of glass all over the floor. There was black spray paint on some of the pictures that contained Zack in them and there was a large 'X' place acutely on his face in each of them. Roxas continued to walk through the hallway and turned into the living room where the couch had been turned over and the TV had been smashed to bits. There was writing on the far wall near the kitchen that read 'DON'T EVER CROSS ME'. Roxas slowly walked into the kitchen and jumped as high as he could. The whole kitchen was a mess and food decorated every part of the nice kitchen and he gasped when he exited the kitchen. The family photo that was taken in a Victorian type style (very expensive.) of Roxas, Cloud, and Zack when the two had first moved in together which wasn't too long ago was now sporting a large gaping hole where Zack's face should be. Axel came from down the hall and stood beside Roxas, wrapping his long arms around Roxas' thin frame.

"Someone wasn't happy with you guys at all." Axel said, breaking through the silence in the air. Roxas slumped his shoulders and leaned against Axel's chest slightly.

"It was my mother, I just know it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because when she first met Zack, she was sad and then she was shock and then anger finally set in and she cursed my dad and his boyfriend out in front of me and my brother's, proving that she is indeed, a homophobe or that she just really hates that a man could get my dad off better than she could. If you remember from our past texts, I said that they had gotten a divorce because my mom was way too suspicious to live with Cloud and I was just stuck to my dad since I was the only one he could really get custody over." Roxas let out a sigh and his body shook a bit causing Axel to tighten his hold on the boy. Even though they had been dating for less than a few hours and have only known each other for about a month, Roxas felt like he's known Axel forever and feels completely comfortable being in his arms like this. He felt unbelievably safe.

Later that night, Cloud and Zack had arrived home and found the mess that Axel and Roxas were attempting to clean up without taking too much away so that Cloud could see it and determine what happened. The two men had both known as soon as they saw that Zack's face was crossed out and the writing on that wall that this was the work of an angered Tifa. Cloud and Zack helped the boy clean up the whole house in less than 3 hours. The Strife family and Axel went out to the grocery store to do food shopping which resulted in Roxas and Axel acting completely out of their age group when a bunch of children outside the store asked the two to play with them while they waited for their parents to arrive. It was rather convenient that there was a playground just across the street from the supermarket so the kids all shouted to their parents or whomever that they would be playing with the nice boys. Cloud and Zack were surprised on the drive home when they saw the two boys in the back seat cuddled up against each other, trying extremely hard not to fall asleep because only lord knows that playing with children is tiring as shit. Axel and Roxas were exchanging various sentences to each other and just saying things that they felt they should say. They threw few 'I love you's in there as to not rouse questions from Cloud and Zack. When they finally got home and unloaded all of the food shopping and cooked dinner and ate, Roxas asked Axel if he wanted to stay over so he wouldn't have to walk all the way home or take the bus. The redhead happily obliged (with the approval from the parents) and the two boys retreated to the attic, saying good night to the parents. Since no one could see them, Axel and Roxas shared the same bed that night without shame.

Even with all the events that happened today, it still managed to be a good enough day to Roxas but who knew what the rest of his week was going to be like.

* * *

**A/N:** _END OF CHAPTER VI_

_Woooooooooooooow. That took a lot of heart and soul to write. I'm sorry I took so long to get this out, I was going to update on New Year's but I got stuck :l_

_Anyways, Happy (Late) New Years to you all and hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I would say I'll try and update sooner but I know with the kind of schedule I'm running on, it'll be a few weeks before the next chapter comes out unless I get it done durning midterms then we'll see when the next chapter comes out. Tata for now!_

_ -LivingLikeLarry_


End file.
